Mediatization, polarization, and intolerance (between environments, media, and circulation)

Polarization as a structure of intolerance (a communicational issue) 285 do not seek possibilities of minimally productive understanding for purposes of strain. We believe that the country’s situation - although effec- tively delimited by the intensity and scope of the phenomenon - calls for a more substantial analysis than that of pointing out conflict and emotionality. The article does not address all the diversity of con- flicting situations that can be expressed by those interactive in - dicators of behavior; it limits itself to reflect on some internal mechanisms that characterize polarization , assuming that per- ceiving the logics in action, in the specificity of an occurrence, can increase the chances of a praxis aimed at facing the risks involved. Definitely, in concrete episodes, the mechanisms will be different - but we believe that this reflexive approach can be an adequate heuristic for investigating specifics in their empiri - cal diversity. *** In the space provided in this article, I will not give examples related to our current situation. It is not a matter of considering that a reflective text needs no materialization - but we have everyday examples in daily newspapers and alternati- ve websites. It is not for any other reason that we see the the- me becoming, almost suddenly, an issue that imposes itself on everyone - in our day to day, fears, in face of the risk - more than imminent, in progress - of breaking up plural processes and di- versifiers that must sustain the complexity of true citizenship. For no other reason, the III International Seminar on Mediatiza- tion marks, with its theme, the urgency of reflections that must go beyond the refusing stance of the current state of affairs. Examples are available particularly in Brazil, but also at a global level - when we consider the advancement of the extreme right in many countries, with its “single-minded” strategies, which divide societies between those who reinforce polarizations and those who are there oppressed. The present reflections are based on empirical obser- vation found in newspapers, television broadcasts, and con-