scholarly journals Å le eller ikke le: Holdninger til religionshumor i den norske befolkning

Ingen spøk ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Pål Ketil Botvar
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Parts

Do Norwegians think it is okay to laugh at humour that is related to religion? This is the question I explore, based on a representative survey conducted in Norway. In recent years the relationship between religion and humour has been a topic of public discourse, sparked initially in 2005/2006 when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and the Norwegian weekly Magazinet published cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The publications led to heated debate, riots and demonstrations in different parts of the world. The 2015 attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo brought the topic back into the public eye. The controversy over boundaries for joking about religion is part of a larger debate about freedom of expression and the rights of vulnerable groups such as religious minorities. Given the public debate on the topic, one can assume that many Norwegians have made up their minds about the topic of humour and religion in the public sphere.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING LAW AND RELIGION AS CULTURE: MAKING ROOM FOR MEANING IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2006
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between law and religion in contemporary civil society has been a topic of increasing social interest and importance in Canada in the past many years. We have seen the practices and commitments of religious groups and individuals become highly salient on many issues of public policy, including the nature of the institution of marriage, the content of public education, and the uses of public space, to name just a few. As the vehicle for this discussion, I want to ask a straightforward question: When we listen to our public discourse, what is the story that we hear about the relationship between law and religion? How does this topic tend to be spoken about in law and politics – what is our idiom around this issue – and does this story serve us well? Though straightforward, this question has gone all but unanswered in our political and academic discussions. We take for granted our approach to speaking about – and, therefore, our way of thinking about – the relationship between law and religion. In my view, this is most unfortunate because this taken-for-grantedness is the source of our failure to properly understand the critically important relationship between law and religion.

scholarly journals The Digital Transformation of the Public Sphere, Its Features in the Context of Various Political Regimes, and Its Possible Influence on Political Processes

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 149-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Salikov
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
Internet Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The question of how the digital transformation of the public sphere affects political processes has been of interest to researchers since the spread of the Internet in the early 1990s. However, today there is no clear or unambiguous answer to this question; expert estimates differ radically, from extremely positive to extremely negative. This article attempts to take a comprehensive approach to this issue, conceptualizing the transformations taking place in the public sphere under the influence of Internet communication technologies, taking their political context into account, and identifying the relationship between these changes and possible transformations of political regimes. In order to achieve these goals, several tasks are tackled during this research. The first section examines the issue as to whether the concept of the public sphere can be used in a non-democratic context. It also delineates two main types of the public sphere, the “democratic public sphere” and the “authoritarian public sphere,” in order to take into account the features of public discourse in the context of various political regimes. The second section discusses the special aspects of the digital transformation of the public sphere in a democratic context. The third section considers the special aspects of the digital transformation of the public sphere in a non-democratic context. The concluding section summarizes the results of the study, states the existing gaps and difficulties, outlines the ways for their possible extension, and raises questions requiring attention from other researchers.

The uninterrupted life is not worth living: On religious education and the public sphere

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert Biesta ◽  
Patricia Hannam
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Public ◽  
Existential Approach ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn this paper we explore the relationship between religious education and the public sphere, suggesting that religious education, if it takes its educational remit seriously, has to be orientated towards the public sphere where human beings exist together in and with the world. Rather than seeing religion as propositional belief, we argue for an existential approach that focuses on the question as to what it means to exist religiously. We offer educational and theological arguments for our position and, along both lines, seek to (re)connect religion and religious education to the idea of democracy.

scholarly journals Manifesto & Public Sphere: Action versus Communication

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Valuev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
The Public ◽  
Versus Communication ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The article covers the issue of consistency of manifesto texts with a political system underpinned by publicness principles. The ever-increasing production of manifestos witnesses a crisis in the political system which necessitates the investigation of how such texts influence both their readers and public sphere as a whole. The public sphere concept by J. Habermas, perception of policies by J. Ranciere, and dialogue-based approaches of M. Buber and A. Pyatigorsky constitute the basis for analysing structural elements of a manifesto text, and highlighting their core traits shedding light on the relationship between a manifesto text and the public sphere. Through highlighting the three main elements of a manifesto text, i.e. ‘speaking I’, ‘Object’, and ‘Other’, and by clarifying the configuration of interrelations between the elements, the militant message of a manifesto is asserted as the opposite to the dialogue-based foundation of the public sphere. Such texts postulate the necessity both to eliminate the ‘Other’ and to immediately achieve a set objective by way of taking on an active participative position. The latter to be implemented via the ‘speaking I’ replication mechanism, which is expressed through a call for readers to take on the image of the person speaking through the manifesto. Thus, the manifesto becomes both a tool for getting rid of an existing system incapable of satisfying the needs of an actor, and a tool for leveling political space. Manifesto texts demonstrate the monological basis expressed in the postulation of the necessity for action to uncompromisingly transform the world.

scholarly journals Digital authorship and social media: French digital authors’ attitudes towards Facebook

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Erika Fülöp
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
World Wide ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Different Response ◽  
The Relationship

Social networks have changed our relationship to the world wide web and the ways in which we communicate. This applies to the relationship between authors and readers and affects the ways in which authors can and need to be present in the public sphere and enact their authorship. Digital authors experience this particularly acutely, and the present article proposes an overview of the three main types of attitude they have chosen facing the largest social network, Facebook: using, refusing and abusing, each presented through a case study. François Bon embraces the platform and encourages authors to take advantage of the tools it offers in order to reach readers, network with authors, and become independent of traditional infrastructures. After years of almost addictive use, Neil Jomunsi came to quit the network and explained his decision, but also the dilemma upon his return, until eventually leaving again. Jean-Pierre Balpe’s ‘digital installation’ ‘Un Monde Uncertain’, finally, abuses the website by circumventing its terms and conditions and animating a series of fictional author profiles whose Facebook statuses are created by Balpe’s text generator software. Each of the three approaches represents a different response to the constraints and opportunities offered by the social network in light of the author’s situation, their political stance regarding Facebook, and objectives as an author.

Democratization and Discourse

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-381
Author(s):  
Elisabeth S. Clemens
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Charles Tilly ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between the development of rational public discourse and the expansion of democratic participation provides a focus for the comparative and historical analysis of the public sphere. Major scholars disagree, however, on the character of this linkage. As the contributions to this symposium demonstrate, the resulting debates have generated a rich literature in historical sociology. For Charles Tilly, public discourse and democratic participation proceeded largely in tandem, tracing out one important lineage in the history of democracy. An alternative understanding, informed by the early work of Jürgen Habermas, produces a more conflicted account of the tensions between democratic inclusion and rational deliberation. In their contributions to this symposium, Craig Calhoun and Andrew Abbott reconstruct the shifting and contested public arenas of London and Chicago. In an essay written after the original session for which my comments were crafted, Andreas Koller outlines a substantial agenda for comparative historical research on the public sphere.

The Dynamics of Egypt’s “Semi-opposition,” 2004–11

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 83-103
Author(s):  
Mai Mogib Mosad
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political System ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

This paper maps the basic opposition groups that influenced the Egyptian political system in the last years of Hosni Mubarak’s rule. It approaches the nature of the relationship between the system and the opposition through use of the concept of “semi-opposition.” An examination and evaluation of the opposition groups shows the extent to which the regime—in order to appear that it was opening the public sphere to the opposition—had channels of communication with the Muslim Brotherhood. The paper also shows the system’s relations with other groups, such as “Kifaya” and “April 6”; it then explains the reasons behind the success of the Muslim Brotherhood at seizing power after the ousting of President Mubarak.

On Waxen Wings: Challenges to the Public Sphere in the Network Age

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Francoeur
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Multiple Viewpoints ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Communicative Space

There is a tendency, particularly among Western pundits and technologists, to examine the Internet in almost universally positive terms; this is most evident in any discussion of the medium’s capacity for democratization. While the Internet has produced many great things for society in terms of cultural and economic production, some consideration must be given to the implications that such a revolutionary medium holds for the public sphere. By creating a communicative space that essentially grants everyone his or her own microphone, the Internet is fragmenting public discourse due to the proliferation of opinions and messages and the removal of traditional gatekeepers of information. More significantly, because of the structural qualities of the Internet, users no longer have to expose themselves to opinions and viewpoints that fall outside their own preconceived notions. This limits the robustness of the public sphere by limiting the healthy debate that can only occur when exposed to multiple viewpoints. Ultimately, the Internet is not going anywhere, so it is important to equip the public with the tools and knowledge to be able to navigate the digital space. 

Archiving the British Raj

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
The Public ◽  
British Raj ◽  
National Archives ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Central Archive

The archives are generally sites where historians conduct research into our past. Seldom are they objects of research. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya traces the path that led to the creation of a central archive in India, from the setting up of the Imperial Record Department, the precursor of the National Archives of India, and the Indian Historical Records Commission, to the framing of archival policies and the change in those policies over the years. In the last two decades of colonial rule in India, there were anticipations of freedom in many areas of the public sphere. These were felt in the domain of archiving as well, chiefly in the form of reversal of earlier policies. From this perspective, Bhattacharya explores the relation between knowledge and power and discusses how the World Wars and the decline of Britain, among other factors, effected a transition from a Eurocentric and disparaging approach to India towards a more liberal and less ethnocentric one.

Sex in the City that Peter Built: The Demimonde and Sociability in Mid-Eighteenth Century St. Petersburg

Slavic Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-930
Author(s):  
Igor Fedyukin
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Reading Public ◽  
Associational Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The City

This article uses the materials of the Drezdensha affair, a large-scale investigation of “indecency” in St. Petersburg in 1750, to explore unofficial sociability among the Imperial elite, and to map out the institutional, social, and economic dimensions of the post-Petrine “sexual underworld.” Sociability and, ultimately, the public sphere in eighteenth century Russia are usually associated with loftier practices, with joining the ranks of the reading public, reflecting on the public good, and generally, becoming more civil and polite. Yet, it is the privately-run, commercially-oriented, and sexually-charged “parties” at the focus of this article that arguably served as a “training ground” for developing the habits of sociability. The world of these “parties” provides a missing link between the debauchery and carousing of Peter I's era and the more polite formats of associational life in the late eighteenth century, as well as the historical context for reflections on morality, sexual licentiousness, foppery, and the excesses of “westernization.”

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