“My rent is too high”, “Not more curriculum changes?!”, “Stop the genocide!”
Enough! Dość! Basta! Something has to change!
But how can we hold politicians to account? Who gets to speak, and who is silenced? Where do we have these discussions? And who controls these spaces?
This course offers an introduction to the public sphere (PS), a space in which people come together to identify problems and, through discussion, attempt to influence politics.
We start the course with an in-depth look at key public sphere theories and then study the role of communication in the PS. Next, we consider critical responses to these theories. Students will then learn about Discourse Analysis and how it can be used as a method for analysing PS communication. After this, we study the characteristics of political and media communication, and how it is used to persuade the public and legitimize action. We then look at different types of public spheres and modes of communication, considering European and transnational public spheres. Lastly, we move to the role of social media platforms in present-day public sphere communication and how they have upturned how societies function.
- Nauczyciel: Samuel Bennett