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Critiquing Habermas, this volume bring fresh perspectives and ideas to bear on debates about the public sphere.Engages in different ways with J?rgen Habermas’s seminal study, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Moves beyond Habermas by reflecting on current social processes and events, such as anti-corporate protests and the emergence of the Internet. Considers alternative theories by Bakhtin, Bourdieu and Honneth, among others. Combines work by established commentators and new researchers.
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Introduction
John Michael Roberts and Nick Crossley
The concepts of the ‘public sphere’, ‘public opinion’ and the ‘public use of reason’ have a long and complex genealogy. Jurgen Habermas’ (1989) early study, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, traces much of that genealogy, revealing the shifting meanings that have attached to these concepts and the various struggles and socio-historical changes which have occasioned them. In recent years, however, it has been Habermas’ own work on the public sphere, both in Structural Transformation and later studies, which has set the agenda for much of the debate on these issues. Habermas has been criticized, extensively and perhaps sometimes unfairly. But even when his work has been strongly criticized it has remained central. This book has been compiled with the aim of deepening and extending the Habermasian project by way of both an engagement with Habermas and, more particularly, a consideration of other theories and frameworks which afford us different ways of problematizing and exploring the public sphere. Although we cannot speak for our contributors, we, as editors, believe that it is important to begin to consider other possible frameworks for understanding the public sphere than those presented by Habermas. Or rather, since this process has already begun (see below), to provide a central reference point where some of the main alternatives can be brought together. This book is therefore ‘after Habermas’ in two senses. It follows him to a point but then seeks also to break new ground beyond his work. We will offer a brief overview of the alternatives considered in the book in the latter part of this introduction. First, however, it is necessary briefly to reiterate the main points of Habermas’ own position and some of the key criticisms that have been levelled against him. It is only against this yardstick that it will be possible to gauge whether the various attempts to move beyond Habermas, as spelled out in the main chapters of the book, really do constitute useful alternatives or additions.
The Habermasian public sphere Habermas’ first key intellectual engagement with the idea of the public sphere was in the context of the above-mentioned study, The Structural Transformation © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2004. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
John Michael Roberts and Nick Crossley
of the Public Sphere (Habermas, 1989). This was published in English translation in 1989, after many of the important studies for which Habermas had become well-known in the English speaking world. It was originally published in Germany in 1962, however, long before those studies. The lateness of the translation undoubtedly posed obstacles to the understanding of Habermas’ work in the anglophone context. It was not untimely, however. Structural Transformation has increased rather than decreased in relevance. Furthermore, it anticipates and thus, for the late reader, rejoins many of the key themes explored by the later Habermas. It could have been written much more recently. And it is important from the point of view of Habermas exegesis because it fills in important sociological gaps in his oeuvre, affording a much more c