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Overview

The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society is an examination of democracy in society and how it is impacted by modern media and shifting social conditions. It.was written by German philosopher and social theorist Jürgen Habermas and published in 1962 under the title Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit. Untersuchungen zu einer Kategorie der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft. In 1989, the work was translated into English by Thomas Burger and Frederick Lawrence.

Habermas examines a type of publicity that originated in the 18th century, but still has modern relevance. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere begins by attempting to demarcate what Habermas calls the bourgeois public sphere. He defines the public sphere as the sphere of private people who join together to form a “public.” Habermas traces the history of the division between public and private in language and philosophy.

Read the overall summary, explanations of important quotes, and three Question & Answers about key ideas in The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere.

 

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