Journal Article•
Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy
About: This article is published in Review of Metaphysics.The article was published on 1997-02-01 and is currently open access. It has received 2568 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Democracy.
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01 Jan 2006
2,797 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop a framework for understanding the range of institutional possibilities for public participation, including who participates, how participants communicate with one another and make decisions together, and how discussions are linked with policy or public action.
Abstract: The multifaceted challenges of contemporary governance demand a complex account of the ways in which those who are subject to laws and policies should participate in making them. This article develops a framework for understanding the range of institutional possibilities for public participation. Mechanisms of participation vary along three important dimensions: who participates, how participants communicate with one another and make decisions together, and how discussions are linked with policy or public action. These three dimensions constitute a space in which any particular mechanism of participation can be located. Different regions of this institutional design space are more and less suited to addressing important problems of democratic governance such as legitimacy, justice, and effective administration.
1,526 citations
01 Dec 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the current debate about the nature of democracy and discuss the main theses of the approach called "deliberative democracy" in its two main versions, the one put forward by John Rawls, and the other one put forth by Jurgen Habermas.
Abstract: This article examines the current debate about the nature of democracy and discusses the main theses of the approach called 'deliberative democracy' in its two main versions, the one put forward by John Rawls, and the other one put forwardby Jurgen Habermas. While agreeing with them as regards to the need to develop a more of democracy than the one offered by the 'aggregative' model, I submit that they do not provide an adequate understanding of the main task of democracy. No doubt, by stating that democracy cannot be reduced to a question of procedures to mediate among conflicting interests, deliberative democrats defend a conception of democracy that presents a richer conception of politics. But, albeit in a different way thanthe view they criticize, their vision is also a rationalist one which leaves aside the crucial role played by 'passions' and collective forms of identifications in the field of politics. Moreover, in their attempt to reconcile the liberal tradition with the democratic one, deliberative democrats tend to erase the tension that exist between liberalism and democracy and they are therefore unable to come to terms with the conflictual nature of democratic politics. The main thesis that I put forward in this article is that democratic theory needs to acknowledge the ineradicability of antagonism and the impossibility of achieving a fully inclusive rational consensus. I argue that a model of democracy in terms of 'agonistic pluralism' can help us to better envisage the main challenge facing democratic politics today: how to create democratic forms of identifications that will contribute to mobilize passions towards democratic designs.;
1,338 citations
TL;DR: Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The public sphere is the space of communication of ideas and projects that emerge from society and are addressed to the decision makers in the institutions of society. The global civil society is the organized expression of the values and interests of society. The relationships between government and civil society and their interaction via the public sphere define the polity of society. The process of globalization has shifted the debate from the national domain to the global debate, prompting the emergence of a global civil society and of ad hoc forms of global governance. Accordingly, the public sphere as the space of debate on public affairs has also shifted from the national to the global and is increasingly constructed around global communication networks. Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared...
936 citations
Book•
05 Oct 2012
TL;DR: Tweets and the Streets as mentioned in this paper examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest, arguing that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality.
Abstract: Tweets and the Streets analyses the culture of the new protest movements of the 21st century. From the Arab Spring to the "indignados" protests in Spain and the Occupy movement, Paolo Gerbaudo examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest. Gerbaudo argues that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality. Instead, social media is used as part of a project of re-appropriation of public space, which involves the assembling of different groups around "occupied" places such as Cairo's Tahrir Square or New York's Zuccotti Park. An exciting and invigorating journey through the new politics of dissent, Tweets and the Streets points both to the creative possibilities and to the risks of political evanescence which new media brings to the contemporary protest experience.
911 citations
References
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Book•
05 Jun 2013
TL;DR: The work of Henri Bergson, the foremost French philosopher of the early 20th century, is not usually explored for its political dimensions as discussed by the authors, but it can also serve as a medium of personal transformation and self-care.
Abstract: The work of Henri Bergson, the foremost French philosopher of the early twentieth century, is not usually explored for its political dimensions. Indeed, Bergson is best known for his writings on time, evolution, and creativity. This book concentrates instead on his political philosophy-and especially on his late masterpiece, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion-from which Alexandre Lefebvre develops an original approach to human rights. We tend to think of human rights as the urgent international project of protecting all people everywhere from harm. Bergson shows us that human rights can also serve as a medium of personal transformation and self-care. For Bergson, the main purpose of human rights is to initiate all human beings into love. Forging connections between human rights scholarship and philosophy as self-care, Lefebvre uses human rights to channel the whole of Bergson's philosophy.
36 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show why European Union (EU) strategies to improve democratic legitimacy by strengthening its publicity have (unnecessarily) failed and why the institutional means chosen are inappropriate to draw the expected public attention and as a consequence most of the aims pursued.
Abstract: This article shows why European Union (EU) strategies to improve democratic legitimacy by strengthening its publicity have (unnecessarily) failed. Due to an ‘under-theorized’ image of democracy, the institutional means chosen are inappropriate to draw the expected public attention and as a consequence most of the aims pursued. Most notably, it misses (in accordance with most of the literature on the EU's democratic deficit) the important distinction between mere transparency and publicity: for improving democratic legitimacy it is not enough for political acts and processes to be published (to be transparent), they also have to be sufficiently perceived by European citizens. This holds true for any democratic theory, even if there are differences in their specific expectations of publicity.
35 citations
24 Jan 2014
TL;DR: Sandberg as mentioned in this paper analyzes a process of prior learning in the health care sector in Sweden where health care assistants' prior workplace learning is assessed for eligibility regarding subjects that are part of the upper-secondary health care program.
Abstract: During the last decades, the recognition of prior learning (RPL) has become a more frequently used method to recognize adult’s prior learning worldwide. This thesis analyzes a process of RPL in the health care sector in Sweden where health care assistants’ prior workplace learning is assessed for eligibility regarding subjects that are part of the upper-secondary health care program. Prior research on RPL is to a significant degree non-theoretical and focus is primarily on policy-level research. This thesis adds to the field by proposing a critical social theory perspective on RPL. In the thesis, the RPL process is analyzed through Jurgen Habermas’ theory of communicative action and Axel Honneth’s recognition theory. General questions posed are: What are the power issues in the RPL process? What are the implications of the tensions between the lifeworld of work and the system of education? What consequences do mutual understanding and communication have for the outcome of the RPL process? What part does recognition play for the participants? The results disclose the power relations that emerge in the relationship between participants and teachers. The concept of a “caring ideology” is developed and problematized. Further, the importance of mutual understanding between participants and teachers in the assessment process is discussed, focusing on the consequences of a lack of mutual understanding. On a macro level, the analysis demonstrates the tension between the participants’ prior learning and the educational system’s demand for formalizing such learning. In addition, analyses of a more developmental character that intend to show the potential for critical learning, change and recognition are advanced. The results suggest that communicative action can be used to develop RPL into processes focusing on critical learning and change. Recognition of traits and abilities also could enhance an individual’s positive relations with the self. Such recognition could develop self-confidence, and thus RPL has the potential to encourage learning and cultivate continuing self-realization through work. Note This published doctoral dissertation served as the basis for four articles published in international educational journals where access is restricted. The main part of the dissertation can be accessed free of charge and is made available here in PLAIO . Sandberg, F. (2012). Recognition of prior learning in health care: From a caring ideology and power, to communicative action and recognition (Published doctoral dissertation). Linkoping University Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linkoping, Sweden. Retrieved from http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:552215/FULLTEXT01.pdf Article 1 Sandberg, F. (2010). Recognising health care assistants' prior learning through a caring ideology. Vocations and Learning: Studies in Vocational and Professional Education , 3 (2), 99-115. Article 2 Sandberg, F. (2012). A Habermasian analysis of a process of recognition of prior learning for health care assistants. Adult Education Quarterly , 62 (4), 351-370. Article 3 Sandberg, F. (2013, July). A reconstructive analysis of the potential for critical learning and change in recognition of prior learning: a Habermasian analysis. British Educational Research Journal . doi:10.1002/berj.3113 Article 4 Sandberg, F., & Kubiak, C. (2013). Recognition of prior learning, self-realisation and identity within Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition. Studies in Continuing Education , 35 (3), 351-365. Our special thanks to Fredrik Sandberg for allowing us to share his doctoral thesis with our PLAIO readers. For more information on Sandberg and his work, please visit http://www.ibl.liu.se/medarbetare/sandberg-fredrik?l=en
35 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that human rights is a legitimate subject of inquiry for sociologists, and present the case for a particular application of sociological theory to the understanding of gross human rights violations.
Abstract: This article defends the claim that human rights is a legitimate subject of inquiry for sociologists, and proceeds to present the case for a particular application of sociological theory to the understanding of gross human rights violations. Sociology, it claims, is equipped to study the dynamics of social institutions – socially constructed language-structures within which social action is framed – and since the mid-20th century, human rights has become such an institution. The article advocates an intellectual project for the sociology of rights, drawing on a diverse range of sources, that recognises how human rights abuses are made possible when the very concept of the ‘human’ is subtly redefined through these language-structures.
35 citations
TL;DR: Deliberative democracy's roots in critical theory are often invoked in relation to deliberative norms; yet critical theory also stands for an ambition to provoke tangible change in the real world o... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Deliberative democracy’s roots in critical theory are often invoked in relation to deliberative norms; yet critical theory also stands for an ambition to provoke tangible change in the real world o...
35 citations