New Public Sphere Formations: the Impact of Globalization
New Public Sphere Formations: the Impact of Globalization

Summary/Abstract: The concept of the public sphere has been defined in various forms and has remained a subject of continuous debate from Ancient Greece to the modern era. Contemporary discussions still revolve around questions such as to whom this concept belongs, where it begins and ends, and how its boundaries with the private sphere are to be determined. The origins of these debates can be traced back to the distinct separation between the public and private realms in the city-states of Ancient Greece. In the modern context, the blurring of boundaries between the public and private spheres has given rise to issues such as alienation, loneliness, and reification (Verdinglichung) in individuals. The distinction between “public” and “private” finds its roots in the structure of the Greek polis. Free citizens divided their lives between these two spheres. While they gathered in public spaces such as the agora – marketplaces where civic issues were discussed – as well as in courts, battlefields, and sites of communal activity, they returned to their private lives, confined to the household, when they withdrew from these areas. This division was grounded in the principle that the head of the household would not carry private matters into the public sphere, with privacy and domesticity strictly confined to the household. Emotions such as modesty, shame, and reserve were considered intrinsic to the private sphere, whereas, in entering the public sphere, the individual would shed these qualities and seek recognition, competition.

• Details
• Contents