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Jürgen Habermas
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The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere – An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) Paperback – 1 Oct. 1991

by Jürgen Habermas (Author), Thomas Burger (Author), Thomas Mccarthy (Author)
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This is Jurgen Habermas's most concrete historical-sociological book and one of the key contributions to political thought in the postwar period.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0262581086
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0262581080
  3. Edition
    Reprint
  4. Publication date
    1 Oct. 1991
  5. Part of series
    Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    14.91 x 1.57 x 22.86 cm
  8. Print length
    328 pages
  9. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
75 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Mattlj
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 November 2011
I bought this book for my media course and actually found it really interesting, prompt delivery and it was exactly what I wanted.
One person found this helpful
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J. P. H.
4.0 out of 5 stars Essential theory
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2014
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A groundbreaking study, a bit difficult at times because it is a translation of some complex concepts, but definitely a 'must have' for anyone interested in the theories of how society became politicised, including the role of the press and meeting places..
2 people found this helpful
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Pascal Verhoest
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 December 2014
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It's a world classic in social science.
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Tiziana
5.0 out of 5 stars un must to have
Reviewed in Italy on 1 January 2013
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non si può non avere il lavoro alla base del maggior filosofo-sociologo-pensatore del XX secolo...e visto che è ancora in atività lo proporrei anche per il XXI
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Thomas W. Sulcer
5.0 out of 5 stars Important thinking in political philosophy of democracy
Reviewed in the United States on 13 October 2008
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During the Renaissance a wonderful phenomenon happened which was caused, in part, by merchants and traders needing accurate information about distant markets as well as by the growth of democracy and individual liberty and popular sovereignty. This phenomenon is the "public sphere" -- a place between private individuals and government authorities in which people could meet and have rational-critical debates about public matters. It served as a counterweight to political authority. So people could discuss politics, criticize government decisions, inform each other about what was going on. It took place physically in coffee houses and cafes and public squares as well as happened in the media in letters, books, art. It was a positive force which helped keep authorities within bounds, lest their rulings be ridiculed in print or criticized in coffee salons.

Today, in contrast, there is little public debate, no public forums. We have the illusion of a public sphere. It's been transformed. Habermas tries to show how this happened. I think his work is stronger in showing the before and after effects of the transformation. But when he tries to show how this happened, his writing is often confusing, with sentences you can reread several times and still shake your head. Make no mistake: this is a difficult book to read. It's slow going, but worth it.

I think Habermas is right in the overall conclusion about the transformation of the public sphere. For example, real news (ie news we need as free people to stay informed and which helps keep us free) is being elbowed out by advice, entertainment, soft-porn, catchy garbage and celebrity antics. News is being transformed from rational-critical information to a commodity forced to compete in a giant entertainment market. It's a consumer good. It doesn't matter whether it's right or wrong, important or irrelevant. Rather, news must be entertaining. And, we're no longer real citizens but rather consumers, investors, members in a society who participate very little in government.

I highly recommend this book for serious students of politics and democracy. It is difficult reading. For the casual reader, it may be best to read a simpler overview book or treatment first, or to approach this under the guidance of a professor as part of a course, otherwise much of the text may appear incomprehensible. But his conclusions are on target, particularly the before and after comparison.

Thomas W. Sulcer
author of "The Second Constitution of the United States"
(free on web -- google title above + sulcer)
17 people found this helpful
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e-lectra
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful constructs
Reviewed in the United States on 17 December 2019
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I though I knew something about Habermas’ Critical Theory and its use in Information Systems and software development, but I came across the public sphere concept in another book about Habermas. As it happens, the concept of the public sphere, in contrast to private and power spheres, as the location of rational discourse, is very useful for the changing context of digitalization. The boundaries shift, we don’t have a good vocabulary for defining them, and yet they can be designed to resolve the challenge between privacy and effective information sharing, at least in systems that cross over between institutions and external social media.
2 people found this helpful
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whisnu
4.0 out of 5 stars low quality
Reviewed in the United States on 2 April 2015
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Must read book but printing quality is too bad
2 people found this helpful
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Sean
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is as brilliant as it is exhausting to read
Reviewed in the United States on 9 April 2018
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This book is as brilliant as it is exhausting to read. This book will put you to sleep while filling your thoughts with theories, ideas, and fascination with what this book goes over. In short, it is an explanation of what the "public sphere" is, how it has evolved from the Enlightenment to Modern, and how various governments, news organizations and companies create their own publics and exploit them. How advertising, PR and consumerism has created a malleable society designed for exploit by those that create publics within society.
11 people found this helpful
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