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.

Fear Control in Media Discourse

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-219
Author(s):  
Davor Marko
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Public Language ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
And Control

This article deals with how fear is misused in media discourse. Pursuing the claim that it is impossible to eliminate fear from the public sphere, this paper argues that fear control is a technique widely used by certain interest groups to generate and spread uncertainty among people in order to create an atmosphere in which their goals are easily reachable. This paper will discuss the concepts of discourse, hegemony, and power relations in order to show how public language (both written and spoken) in media discourse reflects, creates, and maintains power relations. In this sense, fear, which is a crucial “energizing fuel” of such public language, could be considered and further elaborated as both a contextual variable and as a tool for facilitating power relations by applying various techniques. Aiming to show how media use and control the nature and level of fear in public discourse, I will discuss two techniques – the commercialization of fear and the method of “othering.” While commercialization implies the mass (re)production and (re)appropriation of fear in a public space, “othering” has been applied when the object of reporting is an out-group individual or community and self-group is using the media as a tool for their negative portrayal, thus creating boundaries and provoking discrimination and violence. The case of Serbia will be used to indicate how techniques of “othering,” linked with the regime’s propaganda, may contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of fear, and make a people seek protection and become easy prey for manipulation.

Urban Heritage in Troubled Times

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gadsby
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Historical Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Incomplete Knowledge ◽  
The Past ◽  
Urban Heritage ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Public Sphere

The terrain of heritage—where the past and present intersect—is one of a few places where anthropological archaeology can become an applied, even activist practice. This is because heritage has a kind of "slippery temporality" about it. On its surface, heritage is about history, or at least the information that we possess about the past. However, heritage happens in the present; it is really the continually evolving result of a set of contemporary ideological practices that help us to order the often confusing and incomplete knowledge we have about the past. Heritage is a story, written or spoken in the present. That story transforms the raw material of historical information into a valueladen narrative about the present. Those narratives make their way into the public consciousness, where they are operationalized in the realm of public discourse. There, in the public sphere, heritage discourses have material consequences for all parties involved.

‘A Church in a Cinema Hall?’ Pentecostal Appropriation of Public Space in Nigeria

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olufunke Adeboye
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Church

AbstractOver the past two decades Nigeria has become a hotbed of Pentecostal activity. It is the view of this study that Pentecostal visibility in Nigeria has been enhanced not just by Pentecostals’ aggressive utilization of media technology for proselytization as claimed by previous scholars, but also by their appropriation of public spaces for worship. This study not only focuses on the church in the cinema hall, but also on churches in nightclubs, hotels, and other such places previously demonized as ‘abode[s] of sin’ by classical Pentecostals. This paper argues that users’ perception of public spaces having rigid meanings and unchanging usage was responsible for much of the tensions experienced. It would be more useful for academic analysts and various ‘publics’ to construe such spaces as dynamic sites, at once reflecting mutations in the public sphere, responsive to local and global socio-economic processes, and amenable to periodic reinventions and negotiations.

scholarly journals The The Significance of Internal and External Relativism For Religious Harmony

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-28
Author(s):  
Zaprulkhan Zaprulkhan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Internal Relations ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Muslim Scholars

Abstract In the public sphere, internal relations between fellow Muslims appear negative. Some Muslims insult, curse and slander each other. Likewise, relations between religious communities externally show a less harmonious relationship. There is mutual suspicion in the relationship between religious communities externally. Some Muslim scholars offer the concept of internal relativism as a solution for relations between fellow Muslims internally and the concept of external relativism as a solution for relations between various religious communities in the public space. Therefore, this article tries to elaborate on the significance of the construction of internal and external relativism in building ukhuwah Islamiyah internally and harmony among religious communities externally. Keywords: significance, internal and external relativism, religious harmony   Abstrak: Dalam ruang publik, relasi internal antara sesama umat Islam tampak negatif. Sebagian umat Islam saling mencaci menjelekkan satu sama lain, saling mengutuk dan memfitnah. Begitu pula, relasi antara umat beragama secara eksternal memperlihatkan hubungan yang kurang harmonis. Ada sikap saling curiga dalam hubungan antara umat beragama secara eksternal. Sebagian cendikiawan muslim menawarkan konsep relativisme internal sebagai solusi bagi relasi antara sesama umat Islam secara internal dan konsep relativisme eksternal sebagai solusi bagi relasi antara berbagai umat beragama di ruang publik. Karena itu, artikel ini mencoba untuk menguraikan signifikansi konstruksi relativisme internal dan eksternal dalam membangun ukhuwah islamiyah secara internal dan kerukunan antar umat beragama secara eksternal. Kata kunci: signifikansi, relativisme internal dan eksternal, harmoni agama

scholarly journals Nowe formy instytucjonalizacji pamięci na Bałkanach i w Polsce (komparatystyczne studium trzech przypadków)

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 155-170
Author(s):  
Magdalena Bogusławska
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Major Process ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Polish Jews ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The subject of the article is the characteristics of modern forms of memory institutionalization – the kind of commemorative practices and the related production and dissemination of knowledge in the public space. This topic seems especially important but also controversial in post-socialist countries, in which a major process of revision of the past is continues. This process becomes a part of the political pluralization of the public sphere and the expression of the emancipation of various previously marginalized groups. Using the example of the three museum:Museum of the Macedonian Struggle for Sovereignty and Independence, War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo and „Polin” Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the author discusses: – the articulation and afirmation of subjectivity by means of museum as an institution– the mechanism for shaping the authority of institutions so as to legimitize the interpretation of the past– the relationship between the particular, often fragmented registers of the memory and the dominant power discourses.

scholarly journals Å le eller ikke le: Holdninger til religionshumor i den norske befolkning

Ingen spøk ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Pål Ketil Botvar
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Parts

Do Norwegians think it is okay to laugh at humour that is related to religion? This is the question I explore, based on a representative survey conducted in Norway. In recent years the relationship between religion and humour has been a topic of public discourse, sparked initially in 2005/2006 when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and the Norwegian weekly Magazinet published cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The publications led to heated debate, riots and demonstrations in different parts of the world. The 2015 attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo brought the topic back into the public eye. The controversy over boundaries for joking about religion is part of a larger debate about freedom of expression and the rights of vulnerable groups such as religious minorities. Given the public debate on the topic, one can assume that many Norwegians have made up their minds about the topic of humour and religion 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.

The Suffering of the Perpetrators: The Ethics of Traumatic German Historicity in Karen Bass's Young Adult World War II Novels

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-77
Author(s):  
Doris Wolf
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Childhood Studies ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Adult World ◽  
The Public Sphere

This paper examines two young adult novels, Run Like Jäger (2008) and Summer of Fire (2009), by Canadian writer Karen Bass, which centre on the experiences of so-called ordinary German teenagers in World War II. Although guilt and perpetration are themes addressed in these books, their focus is primarily on the ways in which Germans suffered at the hands of the Allied forces. These books thus participate in the increasingly widespread but still controversial subject of the suffering of the perpetrators. Bringing work in childhood studies to bear on contemporary representations of German wartime suffering in the public sphere, I explore how Bass's novels, through the liminal figure of the adolescent, participate in a culture of self-victimisation that downplays guilt rather than more ethically contextualises suffering within guilt. These historical narratives are framed by contemporary narratives which centre on troubled teen protagonists who need the stories of the past for their own individualisation in the present. In their evacuation of crucial historical contexts, both Run Like Jäger and Summer of Fire support optimistic and gendered narratives of individualism that ultimately refuse complicated understandings of adolescent agency in the past or present.

Habermas, Cultural Hegemony, and the Educational Public Sphere

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Cultural Hegemony ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Arabic Speaking

This study explores Habermas’s work in terms of the relevance of his theory of the public sphere to the politics and poetics of the Arab oral tradition and its pedagogical practices. In what ways and forms does Arab heritage inform a public sphere of resistance or dissent? How does Habermas’s notion of the public space help or hinder a better understanding of the Arab oral tradition within the sociopolitical and educational landscape of the Arabic-speaking world? This study also explores the pedagogical implications of teaching Arab orality within the context of the public sphere as a contested site that informs a mode of resistance against social inequality and sociopolitical exclusions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document