Some Light Relief

L2: The Public Sphere OverviewHabermas and TSTotPSHistory/ies of the PSStructural Decline/RefeudalisationCritiques of the Habermasian PSBeyond TSTotPSThe modern media and the PSThe internet and PS

Jrgen HabermasGerman political philosopher/sociologistA student of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, Institut fr Sozialforschung

The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (TSTotPS)Ancient GreeksDeliberative democracythat realm of social life where the exchange of information and views on questions of common concern can take place so that public opinion can be formed.

A vision of deliberative democracy emerges, within which legitimacy is conferred upon parliamentary proceedings through their steering by means of the rational-critically generated public opinion, generated in an egalitarian public sphere situated between the private and public realms, and free from state coercion and private inequalities.

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History/ies of the Public SphereFeudal societyRepresentative publicitythe royalty and aristocracy represented their lordship not for but before the people (1989: 7)

History/ies of the Public SphereThe rise of the bourgeois public sphere in Britain, France and Germany; 18thCPublic press, coffeehouses, salons, etc.

History/ies of the Public SphereInherent exclusion, explained away by theoretical social mobilityWhite, male, propertiedBourgeois = homme (property owners) = (human)

Structural Decline & RefeudalisationMill and de Tocqueville wider participation & the tyranny of the majorityRise of industrial capitalism

loss of criticality state interventionism public ~/~ private

Structural Decline & RefeudalisationThe Mass Media

CommercialisationPR and advertisingdebate acquiesenceparticipation consumption

The PS became the court before which public prestige can be displayed, rather than in which public critical debate is carried out (1989: 201)

A student re-enactment of

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Critiques of the Habermasian Public SphereHistorical inaccuraciesOver-idealising the internal function of the bourgeois PSExistence of multiple historical PSUnacknowledged exclusions from PSClass, gender, raceOver-pessimistic about modernity and media

Critiques of the Habermasian Public SphereTheoretical criticismsMany, but Fraser (1992) outlines 4 important dimensions (postmodern/feminist critique)Impossible to bracket status differentialsMultiple publics and counterpublicsPublic ?/? PrivateSeparation from state

Beyond TSTotPSHabermass linguistic turn No universal institutional basis for the PS transcendental basis in communication

Communicative action

Beyond TSTotPSLifeworld and systemCommunicative siege, moving from periphery to coreIdeal speech situation

Im ideal!

Beyond TSTotPSOverall, more optimistic about the potential for citizens to influence powerActive audience theory (cultural studies)But is this optimism too simple?Im ideal!

Modern media and the public sphereOverall, pessimistic view.

The lifeworld can be colonised by the system:CoercionAgenda-settingIdeological power/hegemonyDeclining political/civic engagement

Modern media and the public sphereOverall, pessimistic view.Declining political/civic engagementBut: the political cf. the Political?And what about the internet?

The internet and the public sphereTechno-utopianism and dystopianismReality is complexTraditional big media on the NetCitizen media on the NetDigital dividesPolitics onlineThe market and the internetMultiple PSs

Thanks for having me, and best of luck with the rest of the course