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What is the public sphere?. A place? An ideal? A theory/concept?. A place where “private persons come together to form a public.”. Who is a person? What is a public?. Habermas’s theory of the public sphere:. Open to persons Free of coercion A place of free assembly and speech
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What is the public sphere? A place? An ideal? A theory/concept?
A place where “private persons come together to form a public.” Who is a person? What is a public?
Habermas’s theory of the public sphere: • Open to persons • Free of coercion • A place of free assembly and speech • An outlet for rational discussion and debate
Critique of Public Sphere • Is vague about membership • Does not account for social inequities (including race, class, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability) • Does not address power dynamics • Does not address cultural practices • It is an ideal rather than a theory of current material realities
Case Study: York University • Is York public or private? • What constitutes public sphere at York? • What are the conditions of membership? • How do we decide what or whom is public or private at York ? • What are the power dynamics ruling public conversations at York? • How public is public?