A good public sphere is seen as the elixir of modern democracy, as it provides a forum for exchanging views and formulating opinions. Media play an important role in the structural transformation of the public sphere. The art of printing, for instance, had an enormous impact on the emergence of the modern public sphere. Therefore it is important to scrutinize the role that media play in the public sphere.
What is the impact of the old and new media on the public sphere? This is the central question addressed in this course. It aims especially to clarify the role of new media in the structural transformation of the public sphere. New media, such as e-mail and internet, provide the opportunity to create new public spheres, i.e. virtual spaces where people can deliberate more or less freely about different issues.
Old media, such as the newspaper, radio and television, and new media are intertwined in many, also subtle, ways. relation between the old and new public spheres is thus an important topic of this course.Theories of media and the public sphere do not only provide conceptual tools for describing the means and the spaces people use when they exchange views and formulate opinions, but they also prescribe how these means and spaces should be.
This course addresses some theories that help to confront the real and the ideal, i.e. the facts about the existing public spheres, with normative ideas about how they should be.New media are transforming modern politics. The political changes in the northern part of Africa were nearly impossible without e-mail, twitter and internet. According to some scholars these media can help to solve democratic deficits and realize direct democracy. However, one can discuss if these democratic deficits can be solved and if, or in what contexts, direct democracy is desirable.
Therefore the possibilities and limits of cyberdemocracy will be discussed. To understand the recent structural transformation of the public sphere it is necessary to look critically to the concept of power. Foucault's conceptualization of power will help us to analyse the impact of new media world wide and the emergence of the surveillance society that undermines, according to many scholars, freedom of speech and privacy. In this context it is important to reflect also upon the power of media tycoons (symbolized by Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch), especially how they control the distribution of information around the world.
New public spheres create new possibilities for all kind of activists. Some scholars see this cyberactivism (Anonymous, Chaos Computer Club, etc.) as a new form of civil disobedience, i.e. a political act addressed to the majority that holds political power and an act guided and justified by political principles. This course will focus on the opportunities and limits for public resistance via the internet, especially hactivism.
Period
21-07-2014 - 01-08-2014 (2 weeks)
Target group
Everybody interested in the topic.
Course aim
In this course, you will learn:
- to understand the impact of old and new media on the structural transformation of the public sphere;
- to reflect on core problems concerning public spheres, such as democratic deficits, unequal power relations, the impact of so-called social media, the emergence of the surveillance society, privacy, censorship, the tyranny of intimacy and the limits of hactivism;
- to present your ideas about a specific topic concerning new public spheres at a conference;
- to write a small paper (between 2000 and 3000 words).
Credits
3.0 ECTS credits
Course fee
EUR 750: Course plus course materials
Course leader
Dr. Ren Gabrils
Scholarships
Not available.
Maastricht University + Maastricht School of Management Student Service Centre
Address: Bonnefantenstraat 2 P.O. Box 616
Postal code: 6211 KL Maastricht
City: Maastricht
Country: Netherlands
Website: http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/summerschool
E-mail: summerschool@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Phone: +31433885295
New Public Spheres
label
Diverse
calendar_month
2014-01-27, 00:00
autorenew
2025-09-29, 17:01
history_edu
Ioana Dinescu
