Masthead CMC Magazine / February 1, 1996
  Information Technology Systems as Publics, by John Monberg

Key Tensions Defining Public

Drawing upon perspectives from social and political theory, the term "public" can be considered to be defined and delimited by four central tensions:

  1. The sphere of the public as distinguished from the sphere of the private--the household, the non-political.

  2. The sphere of the public as distinguished from the sphere of the market and private enterprise.

  3. The sphere of the public as local and bounded--as inside and outside boundaries demarcate individual, collective, political, and geographic identities from the larger, external world.

  4. Universal standards for justice, rationality, and objectivity versus specific, multiple, or fragmented standards.

These tensions can direct an --analysis of electronic publics.


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