Over the last several years, the debate about publics seems to have
newly emerged. This debate critically reflects the Habermasian
ideal of a (national) public sphere in a transnational context.
However, it seems that the issue of a reconstruction of a global
public sphere is more complex. In this brilliant and provocative
book, Ingrid Volkmer argues that a reflective approach of
globalization is required in order to identify and deconstruct key
strata of deliberate public discourse in supra- and subnational
societal formations. This construction helps to understand the new
processes of legitimacy at the beginning of the 21st century in
which the traditional conception of a ‘public’ and its
role as a legitimizing force are being challenged and transformed.
The book unfolds this key phenomenon of global deliberate
interconnectedness as a discursive and negotiated dimension within
‘reflective’ globalization, i.e. continuously
constituting, maintaining and refining the ‘life’ of
the global public and conceptualizes a global public sphere.
Offering insightful case studies to illustrate this new theory of
the global public sphere, the book will be essential reading for
students and scholars of media and communication studies , and
social and political theory.
Table des matières
Acknowledgements vi
Illustrations vii
Introduction 1
1 Public Territories and the Imagining of Political Community 11
2 Post-Territoriality in Spheres of ‘Public Assemblages’ 53
3 From ‘Reflexive’ Modernity to ‘Reflective’ Globalization:
The Public Space of ‘Inbetween-Ness’ 91
4 Public Interdependence, Interlocutors and the ‘Matrix’ of
Influence 129
5 From the Public Sphere to Public ‘Horizons’ 163
Notes 192
References 195
Index 215
A propos de l’auteur
Ingrid Volkmer is associate professor of media and communications at the University of Melbourne.