Rational Criticism, Ideological Sustainability and Intellectual Leadership in the Digital Public Sphere

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-90
Author(s):  
Dounia Mahlouly
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Natural Process ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
Communication Devices ◽  
Digital Environments ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Rational Criticism ◽  
General Influence

This review postulates that today's digital environments unveil an era of connectivity, in which digital communication devices exercise a general influence on social interactions and public deliberation. From this perspective, it argues that connective practices are likely to affect two main components of the normative public sphere, namely rational criticism and ideological sustainability. Drawing on the case of the 2011 Arab revolutions, in which social media proved to have a strategic function, this paper illustrates the ideological heterogeneity of social networks. Additionally, this article considers how issues of rational criticism and ideological sustainability could be improved by regulating online interactions and proposes that the digital divide could act as a natural process of regulation for today's connective and transnational public sphere.

The Priority of Public Reasons and Religious Forms of Life in Constitutional Democracies

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Cristina Lafont
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
Political Deliberation ◽  
Forms Of Life ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mutual Accountability

In this essay I address the difficult question of how citizens with conflicting religious and secular views can fulfill the democratic obligation of justifying the imposition of coercive policies to others with reasons that they can also accept. After discussing the difficulties of proposals that either exclude religious beliefs from public deliberation or include them without any restrictions, I argue instead for a policy of mutual accountability that imposes the same deliberative rights and obligations on all democratic citizens. The main advantage of this proposal is that it recognizes the right of all democratic citizens to adopt their own cognitive stance (whether religious or secular) in political deliberation in the public sphere without giving up on the democratic obligation to provide reasons acceptable to everyone to justify coercive policies with which all citizens must comply.

scholarly journals Bridging the digital divide: Older adults’ engagement with online cinema heritage

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-811
Author(s):  
Silvia Dibeltulo ◽  
Sarah Culhane ◽  
Daniela Treveri Gennari
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Film Exhibition ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Digital Environments ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Abstract Is there a way to ensure older adults can bridge the digital divide and engage with online cultural heritage? How can cinema-going memories encourage cross-generational engagement? This article proposes to address these issues by using the Italian Cinema Audiences research project as a case study, and specifically cinema-going memories as intangible cultural heritage (Ercole et al., 2016, Cinema heritage in Europe: preserving and sharing culture by engaging with film exhibition and audiences. Editorial. Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 11(Summer): 1–12. Web. ISSN: 2009-4078). It aims to tackle the difficulty of engaging the older generation with the digital world, by proposing and testing new ways to resolve it. Through a mixed-methods ethnographic approach, this article investigates different strategies: the use of social media platforms; a cross-generational activity involving Historypin, a digital, user-generated archive of crowdsourced historical material; an online dedicated archive built in collaboration with the older adults involved in the project. These different solutions aim not only at increasing digital engagement among older adults, but also at furthering younger generations’ involvement in shared cultural heritage in an online context. By focusing on the memories of cinema-going in 1950s Italy, the article explores the implications of the advantages and disadvantages of these different approaches. It also tests Anja K. Leist’s research findings (2013, Social media use of older adults: a mini-review. Gerontology, 59(4): 378–84) on the key role of moderators (the younger generation) to help novice users (the older generation) in the ‘continuous engagement’ in digital environments. We conclude that in order to bridge the digital divide two components are necessary simultaneously: the creation of digital platforms in which the older generations are both curators and users, and the support of and interaction with younger generations.

scholarly journals Conceptualizing mediatization: Is `Have your say´ a kind of transnational public sphere for public deliberation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
António Alberto Castro Baía Reis
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
Discussion Forum ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Online Discussion Forums ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
News Website ◽  
Do So

<p>The present essay aims to reflect on the questions of how the <em>BBC</em> news website discussion forum <em>Have your say</em> is organized and to what extent it can be considered as a transnational or global public sphere for public deliberation. In order to do so, one must firstly look at this discussion forum in terms of its structure, so that we can comprehend in a descriptive and formal way what is <em>Have your say</em>. Then, to try to understand and suggest what exactly <em>Have your say</em> is in terms of the possibility of being a global public sphere for public deliberation, one must tackle into a reflection that encompasses the concepts of transnational/global public sphere (Habermas, 1996; Castells, 2008), public deliberation (Pateman, 1970; Drvzek, 2000; Abelson et al., 2003), as well as some mediation/mediatization paradigms. The goal of this essay is to provide an objective academic reflection by attempting to frame this specific online phenomenon within the concepts above mentioned, to ultimately argue and prove that online discussion forums such as <em>Have your say</em> are by definition ambivalent. </p>

scholarly journals ANATOMY AND CONSEQUENCES OF RENT-SEEKING

2019 ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Žarko Đorić
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
The Public ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Public Sphere

Economic development and the success of economic policy through which the development goals are achieved can be interpreted as a product of political interactions between citizens and rulers, and social interactions between members of society in the broader sense. As structures and mechanisms of social order, institutions manage the behavior of a group of individuals within a given community. Institutions affect the accountability and responsiveness of officials to citizens and interest groups and, thus, determine the size of the rents created. Further, institutions influence the degree of political control of public bureaucrats and, thus, the distribution of rents within the public sphere. The aim of this paper is to present the concept of rent-seeking and, using an empirical case, to elaborate on its emergence, development and ultimate consequences.

scholarly journals A digital public sphere:

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (68) ◽  
pp. 126-146
Author(s):  
Hilde Sakariassen
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Nationally Representative

Social network sites (SNS) have the potential of providing new and more egalitarian spaces for public deliberation, and researchers, media and politicians often discuss them in those terms. Still, little attention is given to how ordinary users perceive SNS as spaces for public deliberation. This study addresses this gap by investigating how SNS generally are perceived by the users as potential spaces for public deliberation and if this perception is conditioned by demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, level of education, use of Twitter, and activity in SNS. The study draws on users of SNS in a nationally representative survey from Norway (N=1699). The results show signifi cant diff erences in the perception of SNS as spaces for public deliberation according to both demographic characteristics and activity. More importantly, even if people are aware of SNS being portrayed as spaces for public deliberation, few are found to use them in such a way.

From the Internet to the Corridors

2012 ◽  
pp. 277-294
Author(s):  
Yana Breindl
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Advocacy Networks ◽  
Digital Rights ◽  
Internet Regulation ◽  
Intensive Use ◽  
Digital Environments ◽  
Use Of Internet ◽  
Insight Into

European Institutions constitute venues of access for digital rights advocacy networks wishing to influence policy-making on issues of intellectual property rights, internet regulation, and the respect of civil rights in digital environments. Inspired by the hacker imaginary and free and open source principles, digital rights advocacy networks make intensive use of internet tools in order to organize and consolidate a collective identity and build a transnational public sphere. This study focuses on the “No Software Patents” campaign that aimed at influencing the directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (2002-2005) and on the “Telecoms package” campaign, with the objective to remove “graduated response” amendments within a wider set of European telecommunication directives (2007-2009). By discussing the advocacy techniques – both online and offline – that were developed by this activist network, we provide an insight into power struggles that are currently taking place in Europe, but also in other regions of the world.

Social Interactions and the Digital Divide: Identification and Policy Implications

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Miniaci ◽  
Maria Laura Parisi
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Peer Effects ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Computer Skills ◽  
Continuous Variable ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Individual Probability ◽  
The Individual

AbstractIn the light of recent policies aiming at raising the computer literacy of young generations and at reducing the digital divide, this paper analyzes to what extent the probability of an individual having computer abilities is affected by the computer skills of her household's other members, i.e. if there are significant within household peer effects. We show how peer effects can be identified when skills are measured with a continuous variable and the learning costs are increasing and convex. Our application on a sample of Italian households indicates that peer abilities within a family significantly increase the individual probability of being skilled.

Civic and Political E-Participation of Young Immigrants

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Malafaia ◽  
Maria Fernandes-Jesus ◽  
Norberto Ribeiro ◽  
Tiago Neves ◽  
Joaquim Luís Coimbra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Migrant Groups ◽  
Young Immigrants

The internet is considered as an important forum to empower and engage groups outside the traditional political systems. However, the ‘digital divide’ might imply several disparities and even reinforce exclusion of those with low economic and cultural capital. This article intends to question how democratic and inclusive this virtual public sphere is and in which terms the new dynamics in contemporary societies encourage mobility by excluded groups. Through quantitative methodology, we sought to analyse the differences between migrant (Angolans and Brazilians) and non-migrant groups in Portugal, as well as the e-participation forms adopted by them and the factors that could predict such participation. This is essential towards a wider knowledge about this field, strengthening the understanding concerning the ambivalence about the potential of the internet as a space for the inclusion of groups at risk of exclusion from participation and, consequently from real citizenship.

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