Globalization and Changing Patterns in the Public Sphere, the 4th International Conference at NSPAS

The EU project, as well as the increasingly substantial effects of globalization in general, raises the question of changing patterns in the public sphere. It is this context too that highlights the importance of debating the very concept of public sphere – both as interactive space and symbolic reality. As things stand, there is little agreement about any single definition of this concept. Euro-optimists advertise an emergent “European public sphere”, while Euro-skeptics doubt its mere existence. The latter group has argued that a “European public sphere” is undermined by at least two clusters of factors – national and global. What one notices, the argument goes, is either that the member nations find it hard to leave their own interest behind and act on a European agenda, or that the putative instances of the “European public sphere” are results of the general advance of transnational, global communication.

We seek contributions that might help in locating proper ways to think about the public sphere in this historical context. We encourage the presentation of new research by scholars, policy makers, or advertisers, with the aim of providing an international forum for these important topics. We accept contributions in the following forms:

– theoretical presentation adding new insights to the debate in the literature;
– original empirical research;
– case studies.