Ward, Irene. “How Democratic Can We Get?: The Internet, the Public Sphere, and Public Discourse.” JAC, vol. 17, no. 3, 1997, pp. 365–379. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20866148.
Irene Ward’s overall argument in her article, “How Democratic Can We Get?”, is that modernity’s digital media revolution has transformed communication and the way individuals understand and interact with the world. Like the Internet, mediums of digital media have the ability to transform democracy and the “public” as we know it. Given the utilization of the digital media, our democratic and public life has the potential to be increased or be undermined. The central claim Ward aims to advance is to use Habermas’ account of the public sphere to analyze the potential for the Internet and other various digital media to form its own public sphere.
Ward outline’s her argument throughout the article by first giving a philosophical account of Habermas’ formation and transformation of the public sphere. After establishing a basic understanding of the bourgeois public sphere, Ward makes comparisons to modern systems and its potential to form a public sphere. The most specific steps she takes to advance her argument is breaking down the fundamental layers that facilitate the formation of a “public sphere”, like private persons reasoning publicly and understanding …show more content…
The thesis of Fleming’s article is to get a better understanding of Habermas’ bourgeois public sphere’s foundation to analyze inclusivity and gender relations in the public sphere. The central claim Fleming aims to advance throughout the argument is that modernity requires us to take a new look at gender relations and the formation/ transformation of the public fits in with her
Irene Ward’s overall argument in her article, “How Democratic Can We Get?”, is that modernity’s digital media revolution has transformed communication and the way individuals understand and interact with the world. Like the Internet, mediums of digital media have the ability to transform democracy and the “public” as we know it. Given the utilization of the digital media, our democratic and public life has the potential to be increased or be undermined. The central claim Ward aims to advance is to use Habermas’ account of the public sphere to analyze the potential for the Internet and other various digital media to form its own public sphere.
Ward outline’s her argument throughout the article by first giving a philosophical account of Habermas’ formation and transformation of the public sphere. After establishing a basic understanding of the bourgeois public sphere, Ward makes comparisons to modern systems and its potential to form a public sphere. The most specific steps she takes to advance her argument is breaking down the fundamental layers that facilitate the formation of a “public sphere”, like private persons reasoning publicly and understanding …show more content…
The thesis of Fleming’s article is to get a better understanding of Habermas’ bourgeois public sphere’s foundation to analyze inclusivity and gender relations in the public sphere. The central claim Fleming aims to advance throughout the argument is that modernity requires us to take a new look at gender relations and the formation/ transformation of the public fits in with her