PUBLIC SPHERES

What do
you think
a Public
Sphere is?
Public Sphere
The public sphere is an area in social life where individuals
can come together to discuss and identify societal problems
freely, and through that discussion influence political action.
Who is this
Jürgen
Habermas?
German Philosopher and
Sociologist
in the tradition of critical theory
and pragmatism
His work addresses
communicative rationality and the
public sphere.
Associated with the Frankfurt
School
 Criticism of Habermas'
Public Sphere
Habermas's critics argue that he idealizes the earlier bourgeois
public sphere by presenting it as a forum of rational discussion
and debate when in fact certain groups were excluded and
participation was thus limited. Habermas concedes that he
presents a "stylized picture of the liberal elements of the
bourgeois public sphere", and should have made it clearer that
he was establishing an "ideal type" and not a normative ideal to
be resuscitated and brought back to life .