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The Public Sphere as a Field of Struggle

The Public Sphere as a Field of Struggle. Dieter Rucht Institute for Protest and Social Movement Studies Open seminar ‘The Democratic Public Sphere’ Aarhus, 8 March 2013. The public/public sphere.

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The Public Sphere as a Field of Struggle

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  1. The Public Sphere as a Field of Struggle Dieter Rucht Institute for Protest and Social Movement Studies Open seminar ‘The Democratic Public Sphere’ Aarhus, 8 March 2013

  2. The public/public sphere …is a field/system) of communication that everybody may access as an interested observer and in which, at least in principle, everybody can take part. My focus is on public communication with regard to „res publica“, i.e. matters that, in the wide sense of the word, have a political dimension.

  3. Some conceptual thoughts & tools • Looking far back: Creating (a democratic) public space • Struggles from the 60s to the 80s 4. More recent struggles 5. Outcomes & perspectives

  4. Main thesis The (modern) public sphere is, first, the result of social and political struggles and, second, constantly shaped and restructured by such struggles. Therefore, it is not a given but a historically contingent social and legal construction.

  5. 1. Some conceptual thoughts & tools Three types of publics: • Informal encounters (few to few; no division of roles) • Organized assemblies (few to many; division of roles) • Mass media (few to – potentially- everybody, division of roles) (Gerhards/Neidhardt 1990)

  6. Dimensions of struggles 1. One can broadly distinguish between struggles that explicitly relate to the structure and the rules of the public sphere on the one hand, and, on the other hand, struggles that take place in the public sphere but do not, or only indirectly, affect the structures and rules of this sphere. 2. Struggles focus on Who can/should take part? A former terrorist? What can/should be covered? Private life of politicians? What is a legitimate interest, claim, Minority rights? Denial of argument? Holocaust? How can/should it be expressed? Legitimacy of civil disobedience? 3. These struggles are essentially about drawing boundaries.

  7. „The Quadruple A“ Reactions/strategies of social movement groups to exclusion and distortion - Abstention - Attac - Adaptation - Alternatives (Rucht 2004)

  8. 2. Looking back: Creating a „democratic“ public space Dominant struggles; • Abolishing censorship • Creating physical and social spaces for free speech, assemblies, organizations… • Publicness of political and juridical procedures • Establishing and protecting independent mass media

  9. „Policing of protest“ in the past

  10. 3. Struggles from the 60s to the 80s Dominant: Attack and alternatives Physical attacks in the late 60s (Springer press, Berlin etc., La Stampa, Torino) Establishing ‚autonomous‘ and ‚alternative‘ media addressing movement milieus (e.g., Informationsdienst zur Verbreitung unterbliebener Nachrichten, Lies of our Times, Free Radios…) Entering the mass market (Klassenkampen, Libération, tageszeitung, Kontext-TV, Kontext-paper)

  11. 3. Recent struggles Dominant: adaptation, alternatives, and multi-functional new media Establishing sophisticated autonomous media (e.g., Adbusters, MoveOn, Campact, avaaz) Watching other media (Media Watch, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, BILDBlog, Action Critique Médias…) Creating new public spaces (e.g, social forums) Establishing internal ‚autonomous spaces‘ (ESFs) Public or private? Train stations, airports, squares, political councelling, LobbyControl…) Fighting surveillance in private and public spheres Controlling the internet and surveilling online communication (e.g. ACTA)

  12. Adaptation: Designing Protest for Mass Media

  13. Alternatives & Adaptation:Press center of „ausgestrahlt“, Hamburg 24.42010

  14. 5. Outcomes and Perspectives • Inflation of claims and calls for action (mainly due to lower transaction costs via internet) • Rapid mobilization and unpredictability of net-based campaigns • Public recognition of the role of protest in and for democracy • Professionalization of protesters‘ PR • Sophisticated counter-strategies (press officers by the police, embedded journalists, fake citizen groups, rent-a-demonstrator…)

  15. Offering „nice“ pictures

  16. Protest in formal institutions

  17. Recognition: Person of the year 2011

  18. Thanks for your attention! Confiscated water pistol telegraph, 22.6.2007

  19. Demonstrationsgeschehen in Berlin laut Behörden, 1985-2011

  20. Proteste und Protestteilnehmer in Deutschland, 1950-2002(Rohdaten, incl. DDR/NBL ab 1989)

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