Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2014
Publication Title
Re-Imagining Public Space: The Frankfurt School in the Twenty-First Century
Pages
65-86
Publisher Name
Palgrave MacMillan
Publisher Location
New York, NY
Abstract
Habermas claims that an inclusive public sphere is the only deliberative forum for generating public opinion that satisfies the epistemic and normative conditions underlying legitimate decision-making. He adds that digital technologies and other mass media need not undermine – but can extend – rational deliberation when properly instituted. This paper draws from social epistemology and technology studies to demonstrate the epistemic and normative limitations of this extension. We argue that current online communication structures fall short of satisfying the required epistemic and normative conditions. Furthermore, the extent to which Internet-based communications contribute to legitimate democratic opinion and will formation depends on the design of the technologies in question.
Identifier
978-1-137-37331-1
Recommended Citation
“The Public Sphere as Site of Emancipation and Enlightenment: A Discourse Theoretic Critique of Digital Communication” (co-author Asaf Bar-Tura), from D. Boros and Jim Glass (eds), Re-Imagining Public Space: The Frankfurt School in the 21st Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
© 2014 Boros and Glass
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Philosophy Commons, Political Theory Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Media Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
Comments
Author Posting. © 2014 Boros and Glass. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Palgrave Macmillan for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Re-Imagining Public Space: The Frankfurt School in the 21st Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137383433