scholarly journals The Theological Significance of the Secular

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-469
Author(s):  
Christoph Hübenthal
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Ethical Principle ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
John Duns Scotus ◽  
The Public ◽  
Relevant Concept ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Duns Scotus ◽  
The Public Sphere

In this article, the notion of the secular is defended as a meaningful and relevant concept in order to determine the role of theological reasoning in the public sphere. For this purpose, in the first section, it is shown that John Duns Scotus already developed a provisional account of the secular and, moreover, provided it with a theological justification. The second section starts off with a brief sketch of the secular’s main characteristics as they can be deduced from Scotus’s account. Building on Thomas Pröpper, it is demonstrated how a transcendental analysis of freedom as the basic rationale of the secular brings to the fore a fundamental ethical principle as well as an idea of the secular’s ultimate destination. Theological reasoning in the public sphere or public theology, so it will be argued, aims primarily at making visible the ethical implications and the ultimate destination of the secular.

The Use and Abuse of Digital Democracy

2014 ◽  
pp. 1663-1682
Author(s):  
Rachel Baarda ◽  
Rocci Luppicini
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Public Sphere

The field of technoethics explores the ethical challenges that technology poses to the different spheres of society. Recently, scholars have begun to explore the ethical implications of new digital technologies and social media, particularly in the realms of society and politics. A qualitative case study was conducted on Barack Obama's campaign social networking site, mybarackobama.com, in order to investigate the ways in which the website uses or misuses digital technology to create a healthy participatory democracy. For an analysis of ethical and non-ethical ways to promote participatory democracy online, the study included theoretical perspectives such as the role of the public sphere in a participatory democracy and the effects of political marketing on the public sphere. The case study included a content analysis of the website and interviews with members of groups on the site. The study's results can be found further in the article.

The Use and Abuse of Digital Democracy

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Baarda ◽  
Rocci Luppicini
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Public Sphere

The field of technoethics explores the ethical challenges that technology poses to the different spheres of society. Recently, scholars have begun to explore the ethical implications of new digital technologies and social media, particularly in the realms of society and politics. A qualitative case study was conducted on Barack Obama’s campaign social networking site, my.barackobama.com, in order to investigate the ways in which the website uses or misuses digital technology to create a healthy participatory democracy. For an analysis of ethical and non-ethical ways to promote participatory democracy online, the study included theoretical perspectives such as the role of the public sphere in a participatory democracy and the effects of political marketing on the public sphere. The case study included a content analysis of the website and interviews with members of groups on the site. The study’s results can be found further in the article.

scholarly journals Imagens da população em situação de rua: A teologia pública na construção da cidadania

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Virgínia M. de S. Silva Eunice S. L. Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
Historia De Vida ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Analysis Of The Images

Resumo: Nosso objetivo é abordar a Teologia Pública numa perspectiva da construção da cidadania com a População em Situação de Rua em João Pessoa/PB. Tendo em vista a sociedade vigente ser plural, globalizada e secularizada, consideramos o papel da teologia na esfera pública para interagir com outros setores da sociedade visando romper as barreiras confessionais para contribuir com a justiça social e os direitos humanos. A pesquisa é descritiva e de campo; o instrumento foi a história de vida dos sujeitos e a análise das imagens e do discurso fundamentada na Teoria Geral do Imaginário de G. Durand. Palavras-chave: Imaginário. População em Situação de Rua. Teologia Pública. Abstract: We approach Public Theology from a perspective of citizenship construction in its relationship with Homeless People in João Pessoa/PB. Considering that the current society is pluralistic, globalized and secularized, we take into account the role of theology in the public sphere in order to interact with other sectors of society aiming at overcoming confessional barriers and contributing to social justice and Human Rights. The research is descriptive and based on field observation; the tool is the individuals' life story and the analysis of the images and speech based on G. Durand's general theory of the imaginary. Keywords: Imaginary. Homeless People. Public Theology.

scholarly journals Menghasrati Sang Akhir, Mempersembahkan Diri Pada Dunia

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-240
Author(s):  
Christanto Sema Rappan Paledung
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
New World ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Church

Abstrak: Artikel ini membahas Teologi Hari Kedelapan sebagai sum- ber berteologi yang solid untuk mempercakapkan peran gereja dalam ruang publik. Teologi Hari Kedelapan menegaskan bahwa pada Hari Kedelapan yakni hari Kebangkitan Kristus adalah permulaan dunia baru. Dengan demikian, gagasan ini mencakup percakapan liturgis, es- katologis, eklesiologis, penciptaan, dan sebagainya. Percakapan dalam makalah ini juga melibatkan konsep person dan eros dari Christos Yan- naras. Yannaras menegaskan bahwa person merupakan konstitusi yang relasional. Sebab itu, kehadirannya hanya dapat diwujudkan dalam gerak yang erotik. Untuk menegaskan kehadiran gereja dalam ruang publik, saya berargumen bahwa dengan konsep person dan eros, Hari Kedelapan merupakan gerak erotik Allah kepada dunia.   Kata-kata kunci: Hari Kedelapan, eskatologi, eklesiologi, person, eros, teologi publik.   Abstract: This article discusses Theology of the Eighth Day as a sol- id theological source to promote the role of the church in the public sphere. The theology asserts that the Eighth Day as the day the Res- urrection of Christ is the beginning of a new world. Thus, this idea includes liturgy, eschatology, ecclesiology, creation, etc. Conversations in this paper also involve the concept of person and eros from Christos Yannaras. Yannaras emphasized thatperson is a relational constitution. Therefore, its presence can only realize in erotic movements. To underline the presence of the church in the public sphere, I argue that with the concepts of person and eros, The Eighth Day is God›s erotic motion to the world.   Keywords:  The  Eighth  Day,  eschatology,  ecclesiology,  person,  eros, public theology.

scholarly journals Religion in the public sphere: What can public theology learn from Habermas’s latest work?

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco S. Dreyer ◽  
Hennie J.C. Pieterse
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
The Public ◽  
Thinking Process ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Role Of Religion

The complex and problematic role of religion in the public sphere in modern, democratic societies raises many questions for a public theology. The aim of this article is to contribute to the ongoing debate about the task and methods of public theology by asking what we can learn from the ideas of Jürgen Habermas. Habermas was a leading participant in the thinking process on the secularisation thesis in Western societies. His view was that religion will eventually disappear from the public scene due to the rationalisation of society. In recent years he seems to have changed this view in the light of new developments in the world. He now maintains that religion has something important to offer in the public sphere. Religion could thus participate in this public discussion, provided that it satisfies strict conditions. We argue that public theology can learn from Habermas’s recent ideas regarding religion in the public sphere: attention should be paid to the cognitive potential of religion, especially regarding the importance of the lifeworld and the role of religion in social solidarity with the needy and vulnerable; hermeneutical self-reflection is important; a distinction should be made between the role of religion in faith communities and in public life; we have to accept that we live in a secular state; and we have to learn the possibilities and impossibilities of translating from religious vocabulary into a secular vocabulary in order to be able to participate in the discussions in the public sphere.

The gender dimension of the 2020 Belarusian protest: Does female engagement contribute to the establishment of gender equality?

2021 ◽  
pp. 2336825X2110291
Author(s):  
Vasil Navumau ◽  
Olga Matveieva
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Depth Interviews

One of the distinctive traits of the Belarusian ‘revolution-in-the-making’, sparked by alleged falsifications during the presidential elections and brutal repressions of protest afterwards, has been a highly visible gender dimension. This article is devoted to the analysis of this gender-related consequences of protest activism in Belarus. Within this research, the authors analyse the role of the female movement in the Belarusian uprising and examine, and to which extent this involvement expands the public sphere and contributes to the changes in gender-related policies. To do this, the authors conducted seven semi-structured in-depth interviews with the gender experts and activists – four before and four after the protests.

scholarly journals Contested Numbers: Census Controversies and the Press in 1960s Nigeria

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Gerardo Serra ◽  
Morten Jerven
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
The State ◽  
Population Census ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Press ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
The Public Sphere

Abstract This article reconstructs the controversies following the release of the figures from Nigeria's 1963 population census. As the basis for the allocation of seats in the federal parliament and for the distribution of resources, the census is a valuable entry point into postcolonial Nigeria's political culture. After presenting an overview of how the Africanist literature has conceptualized the politics of population counting, the article analyses the role of the press in constructing the meaning and implications of the 1963 count. In contrast with the literature's emphasis on identification, categorization, and enumeration, our focus is on how the census results informed a broader range of visual and textual narratives. It is argued that analysing the multiple ways in which demographic sources shape debates about trust, identity, and the state in the public sphere results in a richer understanding of the politics of counting people and narrows the gap between demographic and cultural history.

The NGOization of Space: Dilemmas of Social Change, Planning Policy, and the Israeli Public Sphere

10.1068/d459t ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haim Yacobi
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
The Public ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
Strategic Goals ◽  
The Public Sphere

This paper offers a critical analysis of the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that deal with planning policy in general and in Israel in particular. The inherent dilemmas of the different NGOs' tactics and strategies in reshaping the public sphere are examined, based on a critical reading of Habermas's conceptualization of the public sphere. The main objective of this paper is to investigate to what extent, and under which conditions, the NGOization of space—that is, the growing number of nongovernmental actors that deal with the production of space both politically and tangibly—has been able to achieve strategic goals which may lead towards social change.

scholarly journals Desiring the Secular: Capital, Cohesion, and the Fantasy of Secularization

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 410
Author(s):  
Ian A. Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Proper Place ◽  
The Public ◽  
Religious Difference ◽  
Religious Subject ◽  
Global North ◽  
The Public Sphere

Towards the end of the twentieth century, religion re-emerged as a topic of pressing concern in a number of the most self-consciously secularized states of the global north. From disputes over the wearing of headscarves in schools to debates over accommodations for religious practices in the public sphere, religion, particularly the ‘foreign’ religiosity of migrants and other minority religious subjects, appeared on the scene as a phenomenon whose proper place and role in society required both urgent and careful deliberation. This article argues that in order to account for the affective potency produced by the immanence of the figure of the ‘foreign’ religious subject, it is necessary to understand secularization as fantasy. It is within the fantasy of secularization that the secular emerges as an object of desire—as something that, if attained, appears as a solution to the problem of ‘foreign’ religiosity—and figures of inassimilable religiosity assume the role of scapegoats for the failure to resolve these concerns. In this sense, within this fantasy scene, the secular promises to provide ‘us’ with something that we are lacking. However, this promise has been undermined by the apparent persistence of religious difference. As such, as a result of their continued religiosity, ‘they’ appear to be taking something from ‘us’.

Ambiguities and Clichés in the Debate about Public Intellectuals

2007 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Misztal
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
New Left ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Public Intellectuals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
The Public Sphere

This paper's purpose is to exam Turner's (2006a) thesis that Britain neither produced its own public intellectuals nor a distinctive sociology. It aims to outline difficulties with the logic of Turner's argument rather than to discuss any particular public intellectual in Britain. The paper argues that Turner's claim about the comparative insignificance of public intellectuals in Britain reinforces the myth of British exceptionalism and overlooks the significance of the contribution to the public sphere by intellectuals from other disciplines than sociology. It discusses Turner's assumption that intellectual innovation requires massive disruptive and violent change and suggests that such an assertion is not necessarily supported by studies of the conditions of the production of knowledge. Finally, the paper argues that Turner's anguish at the absence of public intellectuals among sociologists in Britain is symptomatic of New Left thinking that models the idea of the intellectual on Gramsci. In conclusion, the paper asserts that Turner's idea of the intellectual fails to note the tension at the heart of the role of public intellectual–the tension between specialist and non-specialist functions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document