The purpose of the present thesis is to create an understanding of entrepreneurship interpreted as communicative action. This is done through reflections on an interactive study that was planned and conducted together with members of a civic network-organization called Societal Change in Practice (SIP). According to Habermas, civic organizations are ideally characterized by a communicative rationality that enables them to organize informal public spheres; that is, arenas in social life where individuals can come together to discuss and act upon societal problems or opportunities that they have experienced in their private life-spheres. I have actively participated in three ventures with members from SIP. The first venture revolves around my own and members from SIP’s respective practices as education coordinators. Based on our common interest in education and learning in relation to entrepreneurship, we planned and conducted a series of joint activities that also involved our respective student groups. The activities are interpreted based on my own personal experiences as a researcher participating in a project that requires commitment and responsibility. The second venture involves the creation of a local community magazine that highlights examples of civic initiatives in two municipalities. The production of the magazine is interpreted as an example of how SIP creates public opinion in the local community. The third event relates to the organization of a conference on the subject of youth and digital media. The main message of the conference is interpreted in terms of a manifestation of what the public sphere can accomplish, or as a reaction in defense of a well-functioning public sphere in society. The methodological contribution of the thesis is its definition of three interactive research roles based on my own interaction as a researcher in different kinds of ventures. Based on a theatrical metaphor, I argue that the researcher can participate as one of the directors of a venture, as a member of the ensemble that performs a venture, or as a member of the audience that observes an event. The theoretical contribution of the study is that it shows how Habermas’ theory of communicative action can be modified and made useful as a theoretical frame of reference for studying entrepreneurship in civil society. Entrepreneurship is understood as a way to vitalize the informal public sphere, thereby influencing society as a whole and not just its economy.

Orientador: Cristiano Amaral Garboggini Di Giorgi / Resumo: Esse trabalho destaca, nos contornos do novo panorama mundial, as reformas que as organizações internacionais propõem para a educação dos países do terceiro mundo. Elas foram decididas, exclusivamente, no plano de macropolíticas e destinam-se a fortalecer a produtividade, num contexto de economia mundializada. Grande parte da sociedade civil a tudo isso assiste sem participar minimamente das decisões, pois não tem projetos legitimamente consensuais para contrapor, não tem a prática da participação política e nem informações de que existem essas e outras possibilidades. Espaços institucionais para um determinado tipo de participação estão consignados nas normas e nos projetos da administração central e até nas propostas do Banco Mundial. Falta apenas aprender a participar e participar, tanto formalmente, apesar da burocratização dessa modalidade, quanto informalmente, que é a forma de participação que essa pesquisa prioriza pela sua potencialidade, capaz de melhorar o processo de interação das pessoas na sociedade. A teoria promissora para fundamentar a participação desejada é a teoria da ação comunicativa de Jurgen Habermas, e a escola, a instituição adequada para ensinar a participar politicamente. Através desse caminho é possível superar o entendimento e a dimensão restrita de participação dos organismos internacionais e fazê-la crescer quantitativa e qualitativamente para ampliar a voz da sociedade civil. / Abstract: This work emphasizes, in the configuration of the new worldwide scenery, the reforms that the International Organizations propose to the Education in the Third World Countries. They were decided exclusively in the plan of macropolitics and are destined to fortify the productivity in a worldwide economy context. A large part of the civil society watches everything not taking part of the decisions, because there are neither consensual projects legitimately to be interposed nor the politics participation practice and nor information about the existence of other possibilities. The Institutional Space to a determined kind of participation are consigned in the norms and in the projects of the central administration and even in the purposes of the World Bank. It needs to learn to participate and take part as much formally as informally despite the bureaucratism of this modality, that is the form of participation that is put in prominence by this survey through its able potentiality to improve the interaction process of the people in the society. The promising theory to establish the wish is the theory of communicative action. Through this way it is possible to get over the understanding and the restrict dimension of participation of the international institutions and do it to increase in quantity and in quality at the same time to enlarge the voice of the civil society. / Mestre

Social media had an impactful role in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Facebook as a public sphere space was used as a powerful tool to enhance communicative action among Egyptians, dissidents, and global observers. Drawing on the philosophical and theoretical notions of individuality and the responsibilities of the state of John Locke (1689; 1690), Jean Jacques Rousseau (1762); the public sphere and communicative action of Jürgen Habermas (1981; 1989); and Manuel Castells network society and new public sphere (2004; 2006; 2008), this thesis empirically investigates the role of social media, specifically Facebook, during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Theories and concepts including the strength of weak ties, social movement theory, and Internet and organizational theory, a discussion of recent writings from both sides of the spectrum—those believing social media to hold power and those with the opposite view—inform the theoretical foundation of this thesis. The primary purpose of this thesis is to better understand what power lies in Facebook as used during the Egyptian Revolution. Using a qualitative approach, a methodological frame is employed to examine both the form and content of Facebook posts. This study concludes three major findings regarding the social power of Facebook during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution: the power of attention and momentum, the power of cooperation, and the creation of a repository of information and communication.

Social media had an impactful role in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Facebook as a public sphere space was used as a powerful tool to enhance communicative action among Egyptians, dissidents, and global observers. Drawing on the philosophical and theoretical notions of individuality and the responsibilities of the state of John Locke (1689; 1690), Jean Jacques Rousseau (1762); the public sphere and communicative action of Jürgen Habermas (1981; 1989); and Manuel Castells network society and new public sphere (2004; 2006; 2008), this thesis empirically investigates the role of social media, specifically Facebook, during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Theories and concepts including the strength of weak ties, social movement theory, and Internet and organizational theory, a discussion of recent writings from both sides of the spectrum—those believing social media to hold power and those with the opposite view—inform the theoretical foundation of this thesis. The primary purpose of this thesis is to better understand what power lies in Facebook as used during the Egyptian Revolution. Using a qualitative approach, a methodological frame is employed to examine both the form and content of Facebook posts. This study concludes three major findings regarding the social power of Facebook during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution: the power of attention and momentum, the power of cooperation, and the creation of a repository of information and communication.

O objetivo desse trabalho é rastrear a dimensão de influências específicas que moldaram Jürgen Habermas na construção da Teoria do Agir Comunicativo. Em sua obra maior, a pretensão habermasiana foi harmonizar um vasto leque de autores e teorias que uma vez trabalhados em suas especificidades convergissem para a existência de um projeto emancipador possibilitado por uma racionalidade de teor comunicativo. Com esse propósito, a atenção está voltada para o segundo volume dessa obra, em especial para o papel de Talcott Parsons e sua teoria de sistemas, a sociologia de Émile Durkheim que faculta a interação por meio da linguagem e seu entrelaçamento com Habermas por mais de uma via, as discussões metodológicas com Popper e a disputa com o positivismo, bem como a presença da teoria crítica e seus personagens diversos. / The aim of this work is to track the size of specific influences that shaped Jürgen Habermas in the construction of the Theory of Communicative Action. In his major work, the habermasion intention was to harmonize a wide range of authors and theories that treated in their particularity would be able to converge to an emancipatory project made possible by a rationality of communicative content. For this purpose, the attention is focused on the second volume of this work, especially on the role of Talcott Parsons and his systems theory, on the sociology of Émile Durkheim that provides interaction through language and its relationship with Habermas through several ways, on the methodological discussions with Popper and the dispute with positivism, and on the presence of critical theory and its many characters.

O objetivo desse trabalho é rastrear a dimensão de influências específicas que moldaram Jürgen Habermas na construção da Teoria do Agir Comunicativo. Em sua obra maior, a pretensão habermasiana foi harmonizar um vasto leque de autores e teorias que uma vez trabalhados em suas especificidades convergissem para a existência de um projeto emancipador possibilitado por uma racionalidade de teor comunicativo. Com esse propósito, a atenção está voltada para o segundo volume dessa obra, em especial para o papel de Talcott Parsons e sua teoria de sistemas, a sociologia de Émile Durkheim que faculta a interação por meio da linguagem e seu entrelaçamento com Habermas por mais de uma via, as discussões metodológicas com Popper e a disputa com o positivismo, bem como a presença da teoria crítica e seus personagens diversos. / The aim of this work is to track the size of specific influences that shaped Jürgen Habermas in the construction of the Theory of Communicative Action. In his major work, the habermasion intention was to harmonize a wide range of authors and theories that treated in their particularity would be able to converge to an emancipatory project made possible by a rationality of communicative content. For this purpose, the attention is focused on the second volume of this work, especially on the role of Talcott Parsons and his systems theory, on the sociology of Émile Durkheim that provides interaction through language and its relationship with Habermas through several ways, on the methodological discussions with Popper and the dispute with positivism, and on the presence of critical theory and its many characters.

<p>This study concerns school-development and the political public sphere in a Swedish context. It draws on an earlier study in which school-leaders expressed political signals in relation to school-development as being ambiguous and contradictive. On one hand they saw a political support for openness and dialogue in school. On the other hand they perceived control and competition. Another point of departure for the study is what tentatively was suggested as a shift in focus for the state government of schools during the 1990:s, from decentralization as such to an increased emphasis on control of its consequences. The overriding aim of the study was to illuminate how this shift could be understood regarding the relation between school-development and the political public sphere.</p><p>The study was conducted within a larger, national project where almost 900 schools worked without the national time table. Policy texts behind the governments’ decision on starting the project were used in order to describe and analyse school policy. School-leaders´ accounts on school-work and school-development in the project was used for analysis and description of school practice.</p><p>Habermas’ theory of communicative action, particularly his notions on “the welfare-state crisis” as an opening for a revitalized political public sphere grounded upon communicative action, was used as a theoretical frame for the study.</p><p>The results support the assumption that school policy, as formulated in the studied documents, did shift over time from a focus on decentralization to an emphasis on control of its consequences. The school-leaders, however, gave voice to a school practice where the importance of a communicative direction was emphasized. The overall conclusion is that while a vital political public sphere in Habermas´ terms is supported in school practice, school policy seems to direct school development in the opposite direction, thereby closing the opportunity for school to support a revitalized public sphere.</p>

Magistro darbas analizuoja įžymiųjų Frankfurto atstovų – Foucault ir Habermaso diskusiją, detaliau gilinamasi į komunikacinio veiksmo teorijos ir genealogijos metodų aiškinimą ir jų taikomumą. Nors apie šią diskusiją jau buvo plačiai analizuota ir apsvarstyta viešojoje akademinėje bendruomenėje, tačiau šio darbo išskirtinumas yra tai, kad gilinamasi į transgresijos perspektyvos atveriamus dekonstrukcijos ir rekonstrukcijos motyvų kryptingumų atskleidimus. Svarbu išsiaiškinti, ar socialinių formų destabilizacija įtakoja dekonstrukciją, ar rekonstrukcija nesudaro priežastinių ryšių santykių hierarchijos, vedančios link vienos krypties orientyro (vienpusiškumo)? Remiantis transgresijos sąvokos koncepcija, nurodančia įvykių nesugrįžtamo motyvo prielaidą ir panašių įvykių pakartotinumo galimumo motyvą. Apibendrinant pastaruosius pastebėjimus, galime teigti, kad rekonstrukcija ir dekonstrukcija atlieka svarbų vaidmenį socialiniuose moksluose atsirandantiems emerdžiškumams. Siekiant plačiau analizuoti komunikacinio veiksmo teorijos ir genealogijos metodų pateiktis, kuriamos koreliacijos, išryškinusios emerdžentiškumo motyvo skvarbių pretenzijų pasireiškimą. Magistrinis darbas siekia praturtinti klasikinės socialinės metodologijos keliamų klasifikavimo standartų nugulusius reikalavimus naujomis stiliaus atpažinimo galimybėmis, sutelkiančias lygiavertę lygiavimosi pretenziją į meninio stiliaus paraiškos svarumo pateiktį. / This masterʼs thesis analyses the debate of the famous Frankfurt representatives Foucault and Habermas, while examining in more detail the interpretation of the theory of communicative action and genealogy methods and their applicability. Although this debate has already been widely analyzed and discussed in the public academic community, however, the uniqueness of this paper is the analyzing of the disclosures of the purposefulness of the motifs of the deconstruction and reconstruction, revealed by the transgression perspective. It is important to find out, whether the deconstruction or reconstruction, which are influenced by the destabilization of social forms, do not constitute the hierarchy of causative relations, leading to the one – way target. Based on the notion of the transgression concept, indicating the hypothesis of the motif of the irreversibility of events and the motif of the possibility of the repeatedness of similar events. Summarizing the recent observations, it can be stated about the importance of the reconstruction and deconstruction in social sciences, while originating emergentisms. In order to analyze in more detail the method presentations of the theory of communicative actions and genealogy, the correlations are created, in order to emphasize the penetrating pretensions of the emergentism motif. This master‘s thesis aims to enrich the standard overlying classification requirements, raised by the classical social methodology, with the new... [to full text]

O estudo que ora apresentamos visa resgatar, a partir de uma análise imanente dos textos, os elementos críticos necessários a uma contraposição entre Marx e Habermas, no que concerne àquelas categorias consideradas, a cada um em particular, essenciais ao processo de construção da sociabilidade humana: o trabalho e a comunicação. / The study we presented, aims to rescue, starting from an immanent analysis, the critical elements for an opposition between Marx and Habermas in which concern, to each one in particular, essential to the process of construction of the human sociability: the work and the communication.

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo principal estudar aspectos da modernização cultural brasileira a partir de mudanças ocorridas em nossa mais tradicional religião: o catolicismo. No plano teórico-metodológico, partiu-se de um referencial específico, a Teoria da Ação Comunicativa de Jürgen Habermas, com a intenção de verificar possibilidades para o desenvolvimento de um tipo de racionalidade, denominada comunicativa, em nossa cultura. No plano da análise empírica, optou-se por estudar as Comunidades Eclesiais de Base, as quais se mostraram como um espaço privilegiado para a identificação desses potenciais para a racionalidade comunicativa. Isso se explica pelo fato de que essas comunidades religiosas criaram em seu meio o hábito de discutir e argumentar, coletivamente, com a intenção de chegar assim a soluções consensuais para seus problemas cotidianos. / This research had as it main goal to study aspects of the Brazilian cultural modernization taking into consideration changes that have happened within its most traditional religion: the Catholicism. In terms of theoretical as well as methodological means, the present research has used as specific reference the Theory of Communicative Action by Jürgen Habermas, aiming to verify conditions that make possible the development of a certain type of rationality, know as communicative, in our culture. In terms of empirical analysis, it has chosen to study the Christian Base Communities, which are considered as being a privileged scenario to verifying potentialities to the development of communicative action. This choice is due to the fact that those religious communities have created, among their members, the habit of discussing and arguing for, collectively, whose intention is to come up with consensual solutions to their daily-life problems.