<p>The theoretical discussion of how to define the public sphere relies on Jürgen Habermas’ analysis of the bourgeois public sphere. I the thesis I use two generalized models of both the bourgeois and the representative public sphere. I consider how well the two actors’ engagement in the public sphere fits the two models. By doing this it is possible to show that <i>both</i> models may be used, despite dealing with a time when, according to Habermas, the representative public sphere had disappeared and the bourgeois public sphere was in decline. </p><p>The two actors studied in this thesis emerged from state and society respectively, and therefore were governed by different circumstances in participating in public life. Despite these differences, I demonstrate that their strategies were very similar, and that largely the key issue for both was legitimacy, proven by their popularity, or in other words by their democratically public nature.</p><p>Thanks to a number of new activities, introduced within both organisations, the members became visible in a new way. One can describe it as form replacing content in both organisations, where the original core activities had to make way for new elements. In the thesis I argue for the value of studying <i>actions</i> in the public sphere rather than just models of it.</p><p>The need for these organisations to become, and preferably to remain, popular, arose from the changes that the public sphere itself underwent during the period, becoming what I choose to term a <i>popularised public sphere</i>. Participating in the public sphere then became a matter not only for striving for the right to criticise and influence public power, but equally well of demonstrating oneself to be a credible representative of the participants in public discourse. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:uu-4648 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Gunneriusson Karlström, Märit |
| Publisher | Uppsala University, Department of History, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral thesis, monograph, text |
| Relation | Studia Historica Upsaliensia, 0081-6531 ; 214 |
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