Reflections and Hypotheses on a Further Structural Transformation of the Political Public Sphere
Abstract
This article contains reflections on the further structural transformation of the public sphere, building on the author’s widely-discussed social-historical study, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, which originally appeared in German in 1962 (English translation 1989). The first three sections contain preliminary theoretical reflections on the relationship between normative and empirical theory, the deliberative understanding of democracy, and the demanding preconditions of the stability of democratic societies under conditions of capitalism. The fourth section turns to the implications of digitalisation for the account of the role of the media in the public sphere developed in the original work, specifically to how it is leading to the expansion and fragmentation of the public sphere and is turning all participants into potential authors. The following section presents empirical data from German studies which shows that the rapid expansion of digital media is leading to a marked diminution of the role of the classical print media. The article concludes with observations on the threats that these developments pose for the traditional role of the public sphere in discursive opinion and will formation in democracies.
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Social media risks losing their independent voice when dominated by any central power, private or governmental, that could improperly meddle in the 'semi-public spheres' that they provide to society.
“social media risks losing their independent voice when dominated by any central power, private or governmental, that could improperly meddle in the 'semi-public spheres' that they provide to society (Habermas, 2022, p. 167; see also Tirole, 2021).”
From Make Social Media Social Again: How Platform Interoperability Can Fix Social Media and Future‐Proof Democracy (2025) · cites this paper as Habermas, 2022
The socio-technological conditions of surveillance capitalism undermine the communicative conditions of democratic institutions.
“The socio-technological conditions of surveillance capitalism undermine the communicative conditions of democratic institutions in various ways”
From Organized Immaturity in a Post-Kantian Perspective: Toward a critical theory of surveillance capitalism (2023) · cites this paper as Habermas, 2022
The discursive character of argumentative exchange, not the aim of consensus, secures the quality of deliberations and contributions.
“Thus, it is the discursive character of the argumentative exchange, and not the aim of a consensus (which normally will not be achieved), that secures the quality of the deliberations and contributions”
From Organized Immaturity in a Post-Kantian Perspective: Toward a critical theory of surveillance capitalism (2023) · cites this paper as Habermas, 2022
The socio-technological conditions of surveillance capitalism work against the three principles of reversibility of standpoints, inclusion, and reciprocity.
“Unfortunately, as illustrated by Habermas (2022, pp.157 ff.), the socio-technological conditions of surveillance capitalism work against the three principles (H1, H2, H3).”
From Organized Immaturity in a Post-Kantian Perspective: Toward a critical theory of surveillance capitalism (2023) · cites this paper as Habermas, 2022
Habermas's analysis helps understand why, in surveillance capitalism, focus on individual resistance strategies is not likely to be effective enough.
“Habermas's (2022) analysis helps us understand why, in surveillance capitalism, focus on individual resistance strategies (as illustrated by Zuboff, 2019 but critiqued in Zuboff, 2022) is not likely to be effective enough.”
From Organized Immaturity in a Post-Kantian Perspective: Toward a critical theory of surveillance capitalism (2023) · cites this paper as Habermas, 2022
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References 23 · Cited by 319
- Authors
- Habermas, J.
- Affiliations
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Habermas, Jürgen
- Venue
- Theory, Culture & Society
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2022-07
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 145-171
- ISSN
- 0263-2764 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-3616
- OpenAlex
- W4294792133
- Cited by
- 319
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 69 · 2025: 81 · 2024: 97 · 2023: 70 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 204.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Theory Culture & Society (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Social Sciences › Communication › Social Media and Politics
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Studies and Communication
- Keywords
- public sphere, structural transformation of the public sphere, digitalization, digital media, print media decline, deliberative democracy, opinion formation, media and democracy
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