The Academic-Media Nexus

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Michael McDevitt
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Public Colleges ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Intellectual Work ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
New Form ◽  
The Public Sphere

The academic-media nexus represents a liminal space where intellectual work is regularly held up to public judgment. Three sources of control impinge on the nexus as a sphere for ideas that challenge orthodoxies: self-imposed instrumentalism of intellectuals; a new form of anti-intellectualism that features systemic surveillance of academic discourse; and the strategic communication of university administrations. The contemporary university is instrumental and strategic rather than anti-rationalist in the control of intellect. Still, mistrust of intellect thrives at private and public colleges, entrusted with preservation of cultural heritage. When faculty take risks in the public sphere, they should not assume that administrators will support them against populist blowback. A final section contemplates implications of risk-averse tactics for public perceptions of intellect and its contributions to political discourse and policy.

Speaking Objects: The Circulation of Stories in Eighteenth-Century Prose Fiction

PMLA ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Flint
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Print Culture ◽  
Prose Fiction ◽  
The Public ◽  
Popular Narrative ◽  
Narrative Device ◽  
British Fiction ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

An enormously popular narrative device, speaking objects were used frequently in eighteenth-century British fiction to express authorial concerns about the circulation of books in the public sphere. Relating the speaking object to the author's status in a print culture, works featuring such narrators characteristically align authorship, commodification, and national acculturation. The objects celebrate their capacity to exploit both private and public systems of circulation, such as libraries, banks, booksellers' shops, highways, and taverns. Linking storytelling to commodities and capital, they convey an implicit theory of culture in which literary dissemination, economic exchange, and public use appear homologous. But as object narratives dramatize, such circulation estranges modern authors from their work. Far from mediating between private and public experience or synthesizing national and cosmopolitan values, these narratives record the indiscriminate consumption that characterizes the public sphere in a print culture.

scholarly journals Outside In/Inside Out: Extimacy and Public Space

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nerea Feliz Arrizabalaga ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The City ◽  
Inside Out

As the public sphere has intruded the privacy of the home, the semiotics of the domestic have migrated to workplaces and public squares. The entropic mixture of private and public environments is gradually altering the physiognomy of the city.

scholarly journals O aktywności społeczno-ekonomicznej kobiet w czasopiśmie „Twój Styl”

2012 ◽  
pp. 113-135
Author(s):  
Anna Kozłowska
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Male Partner ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The One ◽  
Female Disadvantage

The text is about the issue theme of socio-economic activity of women in the text analyzes the issue theme of socio-economic activity of women in the Polish magazine “Twój Styl”. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the image of modern woman is a bit fuzzy. Typical woman is torn between the private and public sphere and forced (through social practices and effective gender stereotypes) into an attempt at the collision-free fulfillment of the social roles. The prevailing stereotype that woman are limited to the private sphere is the one of the causes of female disadvantage on the labor market. At the same time that stereotype creates an impression that woman in the public sphere is a rarity and if she’s ever managed to enter it, it was only possible thanks to the support of her male partner or by limiting her personal life.

Der ungleiche Wert der Freiheit

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Rössler
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ideal Family ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Given ◽  
The Ideal

AbstractStarting from the given societal fact of an unequal ‘worth of freedom’ for men and women in pursuing possible plans of life, and the assumption that this difference is due to the distinction between the private and public realm, the author investigates into the gender-structure of recent political theories. Following the lines of the debate between communitarians and liberals she argues for the thesis that while communitarians try to ‘privatize’ the public sphere on the model of the ideal family or given traditions of communities and thus cannot account for the idea of emancipation from given structures and roles, liberals have to ‘publicize’ the private in order to give substance to the idea of an ‘equal worth of freedom’ for men and women. Thus, liberalism has to rethink the theoretical distinction of the private and the public sphere and its practical consequences.

Datafication: threat or opportunity for communication in the public sphere?

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derina Holtzhausen
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Communication Practice ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the threats and potential of Big Data for strategic communication. It explains the concepts of datafication and Big Data and establishes the social and cultural context of Big Data from the way those constructing algorithms superimpose their value systems and cultural references onto the data. It links Big Data and strategic communication through the segmentation devices and strategies both use and propose discourse analysis as a valid method for the critique of Big Data. The importance of strategic communication for the public sphere suggests that Big Data can pose a serious threat to public discourse. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual and theoretical paper that first explains and interprets various new terms and concepts and then uses established theoretical approaches to analyze these phenomena. Findings – The use of Big Data for the micro-segmentation of audiences establishes its relationship with strategic communication. Big Data analyses and algorithms are not neutral. Treating algorithms as language and communication allow them to be subjected to discourse analysis to expose underlying power relations for resistance strategies to emerge. Strategic communicators should guard the public sphere and take an activist stance against the potential harm of Big Data. That requires a seat at the institutional technology table and speaking out against discriminatory practices. However, Big Data can also greatly benefit society and improve discourse in the public sphere. Research limitations/implications – There is not yet empirical data available on the impact of datafication on communication practice, which might be a problem well into the future. It also might be hard to do empirical research on its impact on practice and the public sphere. The heuristic value of this piece is that it laid down the theoretical foundations of the phenomena to be studied, which can in future be used for ethnographic research or qualitative studies. It might eventually be possible to follow personalized messages generated through datafication to study if they actually lead to behavior change in specific audience members. Practical/implications – As guardians of the public sphere strategic communication practitioners have to educate themselves on the realities of Big Data and should consciously acquire a seat at the institutional technology table. Practitioners will need to be involved in decisions on how algorithms are formulated and who they target. This will require them to serve as activists to ensure social justice. They also will need to contribute to organizational transparency by making organizational information widely available and accessible through media bought, owned, and earned. Strategic communicators need to create a binary partnership with journalists of all kinds to secure the public sphere. Social/implications – The paper exposes the role of algorithms in the construction of data and the extent to which algorithms are products of people who impose their own values and belief systems on them. Algorithms and the data they generate are subjective and value-laden. The concept of algorithms as language and communication and the use of Big Data for the segmentation of society for purposes of communication establish the connection between Big Data and strategic communication. The paper also exposes the potential for harm in the use of Big Data, as well as its potential for improving society and bringing about social justice. Originality/value – The value of this paper is that it introduces the concept of datafication to communication studies and proposes theoretical foundations for the study of Big Data in the context of strategic communications. It provides a theoretical and social foundation for the inclusion of the public sphere in a definition of strategic communication and emphasizes strategic communicators’ commitment to the public sphere as more important than ever before. It highlights how communication practice and society can impact each other positively and negatively and that Big Data should not be the future of strategic communication but only a part of it.

scholarly journals Liberalisme versus Perfeksionisme? Sebuah Tinjauan Filsafat Politik tentang Relasi Antara Agama dan Negara

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Otto Gusti Madung
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Good Life ◽  
The State ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
National Ideology ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

Intolerance and violence in the name of religion often flare up in Indonesia. In this regard the state often fails, and indeed itself becomes part of the violation of the citizen’s right to religious freedom. One root of the problem is a confused understanding among law enforcers and among a part of the citizenship concerning the relationship between religion and the state, between private and public morality. This essay attempts to formulate a concept of the relationship between religion and the state from the perspective of two models from political philosophy, namely liberalism and perfectionism. Perfectionism offers a solution to the pathology of liberalism which tends to privatise the concept of the good life. In perfectionism the thematisation of the concept of the good life as in ideologies and religions has to be given a place in the public sphere. In Indonesia this role is taken by the national ideology of Pancasila. Pancasila requires that religious values be translated into public morality. <b>Kata-kata Kunci:</b> liberalisme, perfeksionisme, konsep hidup baik (agama), negara, Pancasila.

scholarly journals PRIVATE AND PUBLIC IN SOCIO-PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONAND FEMINIST THEORY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 28-32
Author(s):  
T. A Kostritskaia
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Insufficient Attention ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Gender Aspect

The article is devoted to the consideration of the public/private dichotomy in the socio-philosophical tradition and feminist theory. It is shown that the socio-philosophical tradition, exploring it without taking into account the gender aspect, is unable, as a result, to detect some key elements of this dichotomy. At the same time, the feminist theory, which does not pay enough attention to the public sphere, mixes its economic and political aspects. Besides, the insufficient attention of the feminist theory to the concepts of publicity and privacy leads to their status as unconscious research prerequisites. It is concluded that the study of the problem of private and public requires combining the considered traditions in a single theoretical field.

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