Public sphere theory has come to an epistemic crossroads. The rise of right-wing movements in Europe and the U.S., for example, pose a challenge to public sphere theorists. This holds especially true ...since they make use of social media to articulate their messages, network, recruit, dissent or attack. In this conceptual paper we suggest a functionalist approach that integrates the concept of counterpublics within the public sphere based on the two generalised functions agenda-setting and identity formation. We describe how counterpublics may become regular publics, but also emphasise on how strong collective identities may lead to a vicious cycle of extremism. Based on the examples of the far-right Stormfront forum and the Generation Identity, the concept of the vicious cycle of extremism is being proposed to highlight the internet's role in the formation and radicalisation of counterpublics.
Drawing on the case of Finland and its model of 'resilience' to digital disinformation, the article provides an original framework for understanding the logic of digital propaganda and the conditions ...that may facilitate an effective response. Building on recent research connecting digital propaganda to the disruption of the public spheres in democratic societies, the study argues that the logic of digital propaganda could be unpacked by examining the mechanisms that facilitate the diffusion of disinformation from the microsphere of the daily individual experience to the macrosphere of political decision-making. It is thus argued that the connection between the two spheres is enabled by the formation and political mobilization of 'unruly' counterpublics, that is, of arenas of textual and visual contestation of politically marginalized groups promoting issues aligned with the disinformation agenda. Using this framework, the study shows that Finland's resilience progress has mostly occurred on the macrosphere level, where effective institutions have been applying transparent and proactive policies grounded in collaboration and research. However, these efforts are at risk of being weakened by the rise of influential counterpublics unless Finland takes further measures to protect its public sphere by reducing divisions in the microsphere.
Public engagement on climate change is a vital concern for both science and society. Despite more people engaging with climate change science today, there remains a high-level contestation in the ...public sphere regarding scientific credibility and identifying information needs, interests, and concerns of the non-technical public. In this paper, we present our response to these challenges by describing the use of a novel "public-powered" approach to engaging the public through submitting questions of interest about climate change to climate researchers before a planned engagement activity. Employing thematic content analysis on the submitted questions, we describe how those people we engaged with are curious about understanding climate change science, including mitigating related risks and threats by adopting specific actions. We assert that by inviting the public to submit their questions of interest to researchers before an engagement activity, this step can inform why and transform how actors engage in reflexive dialogue.
The public sphere is the space of communication of ideas and projects that emerge from society and are addressed to the decision makers in the institutions of society. The global civil society is the ...organized expression of the values and interests of society. The relationships between government and civil society and their interaction via the public sphere define the polity of society. The process of globalization has shifted the debate from the national domain to the global debate, prompting the emergence of a global civil society and of ad hoc forms of global governance. Accordingly, the public sphere as the space of debate on public affairs has also shifted from the national to the global and is increasingly constructed around global communication networks. Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared cultural meaning, the essence of communication.
Abstract An analysis of an archive formed by editorials from two of the most important Brazilian newspapers during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic identified the predominance of a ...framing that attributed decisions of the Bolsonaro government to a denial of science. Based on historical and sociological sources, this paper discusses what this normative framing about science and health ignored, especially how the extreme-right adapted use of the paradigm of disinformation created by the tobacco industry to the new mediatic ecosystem. The paper concludes that the journalistic framing of science denialism emphasized criticisms that accused the state of incompetence, giving less visibility to the role of the federal Unified Healthcare System during the health emergency.
Resumo A análise de um arquivo formado por editoriais de dois dos mais importantes jornais brasileiros durante os dois primeiros anos da pandemia de Covid-19 identificou a predominância de um enquadramento que atribuiu as decisões do governo Bolsonaro ao negacionismo científico. A partir de fontes históricas e sociológicas, este artigo discute o que ficou de fora desse enquadramento normativo sobre ciência e saúde, em especial como a extrema-direita adaptou para o novo ecossistema midiático o uso do paradigma da desinformação criado por indústrias cancerígenas. O artigo conclui que o enquadramento jornalístico do negacionismo priorizou críticas à incompetência do Estado, dando menor visibilidade ao papel do Sistema Único de Saúde na urgência sanitária.
This article discusses the formation and distinctive evolution of the Malayalee public sphere in Malabar from the second half of the 19th century. When the press was introduced, versions of ...Malayalam, such as Arabimalayalam, Suriyani-Malayalam, and Aryanezhuthu/modern-Malayalam, were seen to be associated with different communities. The varied community and religious orientations of Malayalam were reflected in the newly emerging Malayalee public sphere. The tensions that racked the public sphere on this count compelled the Mappila intelligentsia to turn to modern Malayalam in order to contest claims alluding to their criminality. It led to their withdrawal from Arabimalayalam which was the language of their community. The waning of Arabimalayalam had an impact on Mappila women annihilating the possibility of their voices being heard in the newly emergent public sphere.
Disadvantage and privilege work together to uphold systems of inequality. Nevertheless, racial inequality is often described as Black disadvantage, while White privilege remains less visible. This ...one-sided framing in public discourse may result in equally one-sided understandings of and policies aimed at reducing inequality. In the present research, we examined the use of and the reactions to Black disadvantage and White privilege frames in tweets. Twitter stands out as a public sphere inspiring both online and offline political discussions and protests around racial inequality (e.g. #BlackLivesMatter). We analyzed the framing of tweets using a combination of a rule-based and a machine-learning approach, resulting in two corpora of 11,292 (Study 1) and 31,984 tweets (Study 2, a direct replication of Study 1) using comparative frames of racial inequality. Users overall more often framed inequality as Black disadvantage than as White privilege. Moreover, tweets with a disadvantage frame were more often retweeted, but less often quoted and replied to than tweets with a privilege frame. These results show that racial inequality is often one-sidedly framed in real online conversations and that this pattern may be reinforced by other users because they preferably pass on disadvantage frames. However, focusing on White privilege may provoke more discussion about racial inequality. Although effect sizes were small, these effects can impact content and perspectives in mainstream media, public opinion, and political agendas by guiding attention to certain aspects of racial inequality, but not others.
Abstract
Since the late nineteenth century, thirteen rock-cut inscriptions have been detected in the vicinity of Tel Gezer. Their date, function, and relationship to settlement history have all been ...debated. This article systematically relates the so-called "Boundary of Gezer" stones to the archaeology of the Hellenistic town on the tel. In doing so, it presents the first publication of an epitaph reused as the threshold of a house reportedly built in the 130s BCE. A boundary-making project of this nature was the result of the Hasmonean conquest of a stronghold of great strategic and ideological significance. The Gezer stones can be elucidated by means of comparison to boundary markers from Gerasa in Transjordan, Achaemenid Cilicia, and Greece. Code-switching between Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic, the bilingual boundaries distinguish between two forms of property, not two populations, providing important evidence for collective property rights in Second Temple Judaism.
Direct citizen voices are relatively absent from China's public arena and seldom
influence government policymaking. In early 2004, however, public controversies
surrounding dam building on the Nu ...River prompted the Chinese government to halt the
proposed hydropower project. The occurrence of such public debates indicates the
rise of a green public sphere of critical environmental discourse. Environmental
nongovernmental organizations play a central role in producing this critical
discourse. Mass media, the internet, and “alternative media”
are the main channels of communication. The emergence of a green public sphere
demonstrates the new dynamism of grass-roots political change.
