Lecture New Media New Citizenship Week 3: The public sphere Marianne van den Boomen

3 issues – politics, political orientations – the public sphere – modernism & postmodernism

Left Right non-equality is not natural rights and protection inclusion, 'political correctness‘ maximal state collectivity above individual non-equality is natural duties, law and order conformation 'political incorrectness‘ minimal state, only police individual above collectivity

The political spectrum communist: total state control and ownership marxist: struggle between capital and labor old left/socialist: political organisation of working class new left: more inclusion, women and minorities, bohemian life styles (?) communitarian: social cohesion by local communities and civil society libertarian: leftish, individual freedom and independence liberal: individual freedom, free market, no law and order state new right/neo-liberal: individual or elite, free market, law and order state old right/conservative: elite, strong law and order state, norms & values

Patterns of who is exluded slaves or otherwise deprived of freedom, property, resources or rights women or otherwise 'feminized': gay men, children racial or ethnical 'others'

Pessimist-conservative – optimist-left Conservative: humans are inclined to evil, anti-social, egoistic punishment, law and order, hierarchy Left: humans are good, social, cooperative participation, self-management

Rise of the public sphere (18 th century) new bourgeois class, political & economical split, public & private split liberal debating space, aimed at rational discussion and consensus institutionalized influence on the state not yet commmercialized symbol: coffeehouses

Decline public sphere (19 th 20 th century) public expanded private interests, non-rational opinions, compromises loss of critical functions, public relations instead of public sphere commercialized, privatized symbol: snack bars, fast food chains and video game halls

Nancy Fraser's critique on Habermas bracketing obscures real inequalities bourgeois men are not the same as humanity women are made invisible the public sphere public sphere is not a unity, there are several counterpublics no room for anything considered private and bodily the ideal of consensus obscures real contradictions and conflict diversity and private issues are not a step back, but a step forwards strong publics & weak publics in a diffentiated model think more in terms of the contruction of identities than in terms of universal common issues more in terms of differences than in terms of unity and sameness

Virtual communities and the public sphere Modern problems of social cohesion and unity: scaling up and anonimization of modern society no more traditional local communities, with coffeehouses and pubs people don't even know who is living next door passive receivers of mass media information and opinion Virtual communities can revitalize the public sphere: no one exluded, all active contributors to a public debate bracketing of status, appearance, and inequalities is done automatically anyone can create his own community a new public sphere of public-private diversity

Modernity, modernism 1 Era and/or a view based on rupture with premodern, traditional community 1 history conception linear history of progress and liberation of the autonomous subject 2 humanity conception founded in Enlightenment and humanisn: mind above body, cogito ergo sum emergence of the ‘free individual’ in political theory: assuming a pregiven autonomous individual, equipped with reason and logic belief in objective truth and gradual progress by technology and science belief in efficiency, instrumental reason, objectivity transcendental/universal reasoning is possible

Modernity, modernism 2 3 politics and citizenship power grounded by constitution and rule of law in nation state extension of rights: gradual or revolutional liberation and emancipation of minorities liberation = freedom of individual choice (liberalism) liberation = freedom by collective structures (communism) 4 socio-cultural order clear and hierarchical separations of spheres: between science and ideology/belief between state and religion between public and private sphere between higher and lower culture, between art, media and entertainment

Postmodernity, postmodernism 1 Era after and/or view on modernity/modernism as illusion, as construction 1 history conception no progress, nonlineairity, parallel development of different histories 2 humanity conception theoretical anti-humanism, humans are not the center of the universe: the mind is a construction, the body is a construction no pregiven autonomous subject; constructed by socio-political structures no belief in technological progress or scientific truth, truth is always subjective and local efficiency, instrumental reason and objectivity are ideological constructions transcendental reason impossible, only local small stories

Postmodernity, postmodernism 2 3 politics and citizenship no foundational centre of power, not in the nation state, nor elsewhere power is everywhere, decentered in distributed networks no universal human rights possible, only local diversity diversity and multiculturality everywhere, no univocal strategy of empowerment of the excluded is possible 4 socio-cultural order no fundamental difference between ideology and science, science is also ideology distinction between public and private space is impossible no fundamental distinction between high and low culture; between art, media and entertainment