The Public Sphere and the Telangana Movement

2014 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Padmaja Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Television News ◽  
The Public ◽  
Other Information ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Television Coverage ◽  
Political Turmoil

The 60-year-old demand for a separate state for the Telangana region was an instance in India's recent history when political turmoil resolved itself primarily through the force of argumentation and public discourse. News media and other information forums played a complex role in this process. The multi-pronged debate on Telangana helped revitalise the public sphere, setting in motion what Habermas calls ‘a critical process of public communication through the very organisations that mediatize it’. Live coverage of events on television news channels triggered intense debates on other forums, where inclusive, independent argumentation could take place. The intense television coverage was part of a continuum of political discourse on various platforms, transforming and being transformed in the context of a history of oppositional politics. This article argues that it is the availability of spaces for critical rational debate that is crucial for democratic practice.

scholarly journals The ignored audience: A multi-method reception study on children and television news in Albania

Childhood ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiljano Kaziaj ◽  
Sofie Van Bauwel
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
News Media ◽  
Television News ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Broadcast News ◽  
Emotional Maturity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reception Study ◽  
The Public Sphere

Children are not considered to be an appropriate audience for news coverage based on their presumed lack of emotional maturity, critical thinking and proper knowledge. This article challenges these views by presenting the opinions of children aged 10–15 who report having watched broadcast news nearly every day. Additionally, the views of adults aged 25–62 are investigated. Children contest to the ways they are being portrayed by the news media and demonstrate their need to be considered as active participants in the public sphere, which is presented by the news media as an exclusive domain for adults.

The Madres Appear on the Public Plaza de Mayo in Argentina: Towards Human Rights as a Key for a Public eology that Carries on the Liberation Heritage

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-187
Author(s):  
Heike Walz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Agenda ◽  
State Terrorism ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractThe Madres y Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo are internationally recognized for human rights work in their ongoing campaign for justice for those who disappeared during the most recent dictatorship in Argentina. ey have become the contemporary Argentine symbol for the implementation of human rights in the society. The article examines how they implicitly carry on the liberation theological heritage and have reclaimed the public sphere through: shedding light on the clandestine actions of state terrorism, turning private motherhood political and reconstructing public discourse. Despite such efforts to put memory, truth and justice on the public agenda, a history of impunity made reconciliation difficult in Argentina. The engagement of the Mothers and Grandmothers off ers clues for the continuation of liberation theology as a type of public theology, with human rights as its focus.

Elite News Coverage of Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Boykoff ◽  
Gesa Luedecke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

During the past three decades, elite news media have become influential translators of climate change linking science, policy, and the citizenry. Historical trends in public discourse—shaped in significant part by elite media—demonstrate news media’s critical role in shaping public perception and the level of concern towards climate change. Media representations of climate change and global warming are embedded in social, cultural, political, and economic dimensions that influence individual-level processes such as everyday journalistic practices. Media have a strong influence on policy decision-making, attitudes, perspectives, intentions, and behavioral change, but those connections can be challenging to pinpoint; consequently, examinations of elite news coverage of climate change, particularly in recent decades, have sought to gain a stronger understanding of these complex and dynamic webs of interactions. In so doing, research has more effectively traced how media have taken on varied roles in the climate change debate, from watch dogs to lap dogs to guard dogs in the public sphere. Within these areas of research, psychological aspects of media influence have been relatively underemphasized. However, interdisciplinary and problem-focused research investigations of elite media coverage stand to advance considerations of public awareness, discourse, and engagement. Elite news media critically contribute to public discourse and policy priorities through their “mediating” and interpretative influences. Therefore, a review of examinations of these dynamics illuminate the bridging role of elite news coverage of climate change between formal science and policy, and everyday citizens in the public sphere.

Democratization and Discourse

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-381
Author(s):  
Elisabeth S. Clemens
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Charles Tilly ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between the development of rational public discourse and the expansion of democratic participation provides a focus for the comparative and historical analysis of the public sphere. Major scholars disagree, however, on the character of this linkage. As the contributions to this symposium demonstrate, the resulting debates have generated a rich literature in historical sociology. For Charles Tilly, public discourse and democratic participation proceeded largely in tandem, tracing out one important lineage in the history of democracy. An alternative understanding, informed by the early work of Jürgen Habermas, produces a more conflicted account of the tensions between democratic inclusion and rational deliberation. In their contributions to this symposium, Craig Calhoun and Andrew Abbott reconstruct the shifting and contested public arenas of London and Chicago. In an essay written after the original session for which my comments were crafted, Andreas Koller outlines a substantial agenda for comparative historical research on the public sphere.

On Waxen Wings: Challenges to the Public Sphere in the Network Age

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Francoeur
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Multiple Viewpoints ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Communicative Space

There is a tendency, particularly among Western pundits and technologists, to examine the Internet in almost universally positive terms; this is most evident in any discussion of the medium’s capacity for democratization. While the Internet has produced many great things for society in terms of cultural and economic production, some consideration must be given to the implications that such a revolutionary medium holds for the public sphere. By creating a communicative space that essentially grants everyone his or her own microphone, the Internet is fragmenting public discourse due to the proliferation of opinions and messages and the removal of traditional gatekeepers of information. More significantly, because of the structural qualities of the Internet, users no longer have to expose themselves to opinions and viewpoints that fall outside their own preconceived notions. This limits the robustness of the public sphere by limiting the healthy debate that can only occur when exposed to multiple viewpoints. Ultimately, the Internet is not going anywhere, so it is important to equip the public with the tools and knowledge to be able to navigate the digital space. 

The decay of signs’ semiotic value: A cultural psychology interpretation of the contemporary social scenario

2021 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2110272
Author(s):  
Sergio Salvatore ◽  
Arianna Palmieri ◽  
Barbara Cordella ◽  
Salvatore Iuso
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Deep Uncertainty ◽  
The Public ◽  
Psychology Theory ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Societal Dynamics ◽  
Political Turmoil

The article provides an analysis of the affective polarization of the public sphere, namely, the increasing momentum gained by affective sensemaking in the current socio-institutional scenario (e.g. raise of populism, distrust in democracy and spreading xenophobia). To this end, the Semiotic Cultural Psychology Theory (SCPT) is outlined. The SCPT focuses on the embodied micro-mechanisms bridging the intra- and inter-psychological levels of analysis of the semiotic dynamics. The article is composed of two parts. First, the SCPT is outlined in terms of its nine underlying tenets. Then, SCPT is used to frame an interpretation of the psycho-social dynamics underpinning the current socio-political scenario. Based on the SCPT model, the spread of affective sensemaking in current societal dynamics is interpreted as being due to the capacity of affects to work as semiotic stabilizers, enabling people to face the deep uncertainty fostered by the economic and political turmoil associated with globalization.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING LAW AND RELIGION AS CULTURE: MAKING ROOM FOR MEANING IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2006
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between law and religion in contemporary civil society has been a topic of increasing social interest and importance in Canada in the past many years. We have seen the practices and commitments of religious groups and individuals become highly salient on many issues of public policy, including the nature of the institution of marriage, the content of public education, and the uses of public space, to name just a few. As the vehicle for this discussion, I want to ask a straightforward question: When we listen to our public discourse, what is the story that we hear about the relationship between law and religion? How does this topic tend to be spoken about in law and politics – what is our idiom around this issue – and does this story serve us well? Though straightforward, this question has gone all but unanswered in our political and academic discussions. We take for granted our approach to speaking about – and, therefore, our way of thinking about – the relationship between law and religion. In my view, this is most unfortunate because this taken-for-grantedness is the source of our failure to properly understand the critically important relationship between law and religion.

scholarly journals The Digital Transformation of the Public Sphere, Its Features in the Context of Various Political Regimes, and Its Possible Influence on Political Processes

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 149-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Salikov
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
Internet Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The question of how the digital transformation of the public sphere affects political processes has been of interest to researchers since the spread of the Internet in the early 1990s. However, today there is no clear or unambiguous answer to this question; expert estimates differ radically, from extremely positive to extremely negative. This article attempts to take a comprehensive approach to this issue, conceptualizing the transformations taking place in the public sphere under the influence of Internet communication technologies, taking their political context into account, and identifying the relationship between these changes and possible transformations of political regimes. In order to achieve these goals, several tasks are tackled during this research. The first section examines the issue as to whether the concept of the public sphere can be used in a non-democratic context. It also delineates two main types of the public sphere, the “democratic public sphere” and the “authoritarian public sphere,” in order to take into account the features of public discourse in the context of various political regimes. The second section discusses the special aspects of the digital transformation of the public sphere in a democratic context. The third section considers the special aspects of the digital transformation of the public sphere in a non-democratic context. The concluding section summarizes the results of the study, states the existing gaps and difficulties, outlines the ways for their possible extension, and raises questions requiring attention from other researchers.

scholarly journals A National Public Sphere? Analyzing the Language, Location, and Form of Newspapers in Finland, 1771–1917

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-77
Author(s):  
Jani Marjanen ◽  
Ville Vaara ◽  
Antti Kanner ◽  
Hege Roivainen ◽  
Eetu Mäkelä ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Mass Medium ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Newspaper History

This article uses metadata from serial publications as a means of modelling the historical development of the public sphere. Given that a great deal of historical knowledge is generated through narratives relying on anecdotal evidence, any attempt to rely on newspapers for modeling the past challenges customary approaches in political and cultural history. The focus in this article is on Finland, but our approach is also scalable to other regions. During the period 1771–1917 newspapers developed as a mass medium in the Grand Duchy of Finland within two imperial configurations (Sweden until 1809 and Russia in 1809–1917), and in the two main languages – Swedish and Finnish. Finland is an ideal starting point for conducting comparative studies in that its bilingual profile already includes two linguistically separated public spheres that nonetheless were heavily connected. Our particular interest here is in newspaper metadata, which we use to trace the expansion of public discourse in Finland by statistical means. We coordinate information on publication places, language, number of issues, number of words, newspaper size, and publishers, which we compare with existing scholarship on newspaper history and censorship, and thereby offer a more robust statistical analysis of newspaper publishing in Finland than has previously been possible. We specifically examine the interplay between the Swedish- and Finnish-language newspapers and show that, whereas the public discussions were inherently bilingual, the technological and journalistic developments advanced at different pace in the two language forums. This analysis challenges the perception of a uniform public sphere in the country. In addition, we assess the development of the press in comparison with the production of books and periodicals, which points toward the specialization of newspapers as a medium in the period after 1860. This confirms some earlier findings about Finnish print production. We then show how this specialization came about through the establishment of forums for local debates that other less localized print media such as magazines and books could not provide.

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