1. The Question Concerning Public
CCFI 502: Theorizing Knowing January 17, 2008

2. The Question Concerning Public
How do we talk about publics differently?
Jürgen Habermas (1962). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere
Four conditions for the public sphere
1. Status was disregarded entirely
2. "Discussion within such a public presupposed the
problematization of areas that until then had not been
questioned”
3. Things were decided by rational discussion
4. The public was inclusive by nature (From wikipedia, “Public Sphere)

3. The Question Concerning Public
Nancy Fraser says…
The concept of public needs to be revisited Historiography Social Inequity Critical Theory
The public and a public(s) or subaltern counterpublics -Habermas’ four assumptions
-“as if”
-Multiplicity of publics and their functions (p. 124)
-Notions of private and public
-Weak publics and Strong publics
[more on pbwiki] Questions/Critiques How do we avoid cultural relativism in this model? -How is a counterpublic formed and mediated (connection to Warner)?

4. The Question Concerning Public
Michael Warner says…
We need to talk about how a public is formed Discourse Circulation of Texts Queer Theory/Post-structuralism
Publics are formed by self-organizing discourses -Texts
-Cultural forms
-Strangers
-Poetic world making
[more on pbwiki]
Questions/Critiques Is “social imaginary” enough for change? Where is hope?
-His articulation of artifacts/technology is too narrow/discriminatory

5. The Question Concerning Public
What do we say?