Jürgen Habermas’s book _The Structural Transformation of the
Public Sphere_, first published in 1962, has long been recognized as
one of the most important works of twentieth-century social thought.
Blending philosophy and social history, it offered an account of the
public sphere as a domain that mediates between civil society and the
state in which citizens could discuss matters of common concern and
participate in democratic decision-making through the formation of
public opinion. Now, in view of the digital revolution and the
resulting crisis of democracy, he returns to this important topic.
In this new book Habermas focuses on digital media, in particular
social media, which are increasingly relegating traditional mass media
to the background. While the new media initially promised to empower
users, this promise is being undermined by their algorithm-steered
platform structure that promotes self-enclosed informational
‘bubbles’ and discursive ‘echo chambers’ in which users split
into a plurality of pseudo-publics that are largely closed off from
one other. Habermas argues that, without appropriate regulation of
digital media, this new structural transformation is in danger of
hollowing out the institutions through which democracies can shape
social and economic processes and address urgent collective problems,
ranging from growing social inequality to the climate crisis.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781509558957
Publisert
2023
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Polity
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter