Habermas's Theory Research Articles

Participatory Budgeting and the Formation of Public Spheres

Objective: Describe the role of participatory budgeting (PB) in the formation of public spheres. Theoretical Framework: The research is based on Habermas's (2012) theory of communicative action and the formation of public spheres, along with approaches related to deliberative democracy, highlighting the role of PB as a channel for citizen engagement and social justice. Method: The study employs a theoretical analysis to explore the connection between PB and the formation of public spheres, drawing on case studies and existing literature on PB and deliberative democracy. Results and Discussion: The essay identifies six premises that link PB to the formation of public spheres: 1) Discussions on problem-topics influence through public spheres; 2) Public spheres strengthen deliberative democracy; 3) All citizens can participate; 4) PB enables the participation of “weak publics” and promotes social justice; 5) The educational nature of PB enhances citizen reflexivity; 6) PB exercises social control, promoting good governance and transparency. Research Implications: The study suggests that by fostering deliberation and citizen participation, PB can strengthen local democracy and contribute to the formulation of more just and inclusive policies. Originality/Value: This essay offers a theoretical contribution by connecting PB with the theory of communicative action and the foundations for the formation of public spheres, as proposed by Habermas (2012), highlighting its potential to strengthen democracy through deliberative citizen participation.

Forming and Transforming: Critical Reflection in The University Education of Professionals

Objective: In universities, a key challenge is to integrate practical work knowledge with theoretical knowledge to adapt to the changing demands of the labor market and society. In this context, the objective is to explore how the integration of theory and practice in master's programs focused on formative professions can facilitate transformative learning, enabling students to develop critical and reflective competencies applicable in both professional and personal contexts. Theoretical Framework: The research is grounded in Habermas's theory of communicative action, transformative learning, and training-action-research approaches, addressing concepts such as critical reflexivity, self-formation, and the integration of practical and theoretical experiences. Method: A qualitative methodology with an action-research design, termed training-action-research, was adopted. Twenty-five students from a master's program in education participated. Data collection involved participant observation and practice analysis, focusing on critical reflection and rational dialogue about work and training experiences. Results and Discussion: The alternation between theory and practice facilitated the development of reflective and critical competencies in the students. The study highlights implications, identified relationships, discrepancies, and limitations. Research Implications: The results can enhance teacher training, promote continuous professional development, and implement reflective and critical practices in educational and professional settings. Originality/Value: The study presents an innovative approach to professional university education, emphasizing critical reflexivity and transformative self-formation, with potential impacts on teacher training and professional practice.

Studi Mazhab Frankfurt School Jurgen Habermas Dalam Diskursus Etika Politik Indonesia

This study seeks to identify two principles in Jurgen Habermas's discourse, namely Indonesian universal political ethics and Indonesian discourse political ethics. Done by implementing a qualitative description approach with the type of literature study. Data consists of documents that include books, journals, and relevant research results. The collected data will then be understood, recorded, and phrased and then analyzed by actualizing Habermas's discourse theory which contains (Universal Ethics) and (Discourse Ethics). So that conclusions can be drawn. This study states that in universal ethics, the formulation and implementation of the principles of universal political ethics Indonesia uses the philosophy of Pancasila because it is identified as the basis of the state and ideology of the Indonesian nation. Thus, all legal doctrines and legal political mechanisms in Indonesia need to contain the values contained in Pancasila. Meanwhile, discourse ethics states that the ethical principles of Indonesian discourse are carried out with the mechanism of the concept of democracy which focuses on a discourse in a public space. Therefore, the moral principles of ethics only need to be applied in the realm of legal systems and politics (Universal Ethics) not in the realm of democracy (Discourse Ethics). Because discourse upholds the principle of freedom, there is no intervention and does not require moral verification by all participants like universal ethics.

ყალბი კოლექტიური ნების კონსტრუირების მექანიზმი და ძალაუფლების დიქტატი 2003-2021 წლების საქართველოში

The reasons for changes of Governments in Georgia since 1990 have been officially cited to be the fight against dictatorships. Dictatorships have been occurred in Georgia under the various motives for the years, even in the 2000s, although Georgia acknowledged the classical meaning of the term “Dictatorship” like the rest of the contemporary world. It is worthwhile to study not only the dynamic of changing the meaning of the term “Dictatorship”, but to examine the content and occurrences of “Dictatorship” in Georgia, that is the core subject of the represented article. The paper "Fake collective will construction mechanism and power dictation 2003-2021 in Georgia“ examines the forms and reasons of government changes of the mentioned period exploring the new governments’ management styles and attitudes of society. The research topic also covers the elections of 2021 that is regarded as the basis of the next political era in Georgia. This article attempts to find the solutions to the following issues: “Dictatorship”, “Democracy” and Georgia – the ways of the development of a public opinion in the period of government changes in 2003-2020; Etymology of the evaluation of new authorities (dictatorship, democracy); Illusion of the democratic changes/reforms or development – replacement of dictatorship with a democracy or replacement of dictatorship with a new dictatorship; How is democracy evaluated in Georgia? – The national characteristics, dynamics and public opinion of the evaluation of democracy and dictatorship; How to manage democracy to get the essential progress in Georgia? (regarding public opinion, citizenship and participation). The paper discusses the theories of Hans Kung, Max Weber, Eric Hoffer and Jurgen Habermas, in order to find the answers to the above mentioned issues. Furthermore, here is reviewed the theories of public opinion formation according to the Antonio Gramsci’s “Cultural Hegemony” and Jim Sharp’s “From Dictatorship to Democracy – A Conceptual Framework for Liberation”. The article hypothesis that the forms of dictatorship are changed in the 21st century. It is well wrapped and significantly differ from its classical meaning and nowadays, there is no need of tyranny and absolute autocracy. The mentioned topic is discussed in a multidiscipline perspective, like service and political marketing, policy philosophy, theories of political sciences, service management and in the overall context of various communication fields. The article develops the criteria for evaluation of modern dictatorship and finds answers to the questions why is it considered that the replacement of dictatorship with democracy is illusion and how is dictatorship wrapped into the cloak of democracy.

Iqbal's Spiritual Democracy and Habermas's Deliberative Democracy: A Comparative Study

The current study is written in the context of the civilizational dialogue between the West and the Muslim world with reference to Jürgen Habermas and Muhammad Iqbal's political views. It explores the congruence and contrasts between Habermas's discourse theory of democracy or deliberative democracy and Iqbal's theory of spiritual democracy. This research strives to find out the extent to which the core values of Habermas's theory and that of Iqbal’s are compatible. For Habermas, the core values of social order are liberty and equality, whereas Iqbal upholds liberty, equality, and solidarity. It has been investigated whether they both mean the same phenomena by the same terms or not. For Habermas and Iqbal, democracy is the best form of government but neither one is satisfied with the existing democratic practices. In principle, they accept democracy as the best political system. The research paper also sheds light on the historical and cultural influences that have shaped the political ideologies of both Habermas and Iqbal, considering the impact of Western Enlightenment ideals on Habermas and the role of Islamic jurisprudence and spirituality in shaping Iqbal's democratic theory. Through critical analysis, this study aims to deepen the understanding of complexities inherent in the dialogue between Western and Muslim civilizations and offers insights into potential avenues for collaboration in political theory and practice.

Cultural Research on Drug Users in Indonesia

This study aims to examine the construction of rehabilitation for drug users in Indonesia from various aspects using a literature review approach. The aspects discussed include rehabilitation policies, the role of family and community, societal stigma, as well as cultural perspectives such as identity, consumer culture, and regulatory frameworks. Additionally, this research employs Jurgen Habermas's theory of Communicative Power as its theoretical foundation. The method used is a literature review by examining various previous studies relevant to the topic of drug user rehabilitation. The results indicate that rehabilitation is constructed from policy aspects that still need improvement, the importance of family support, the need to eliminate societal stigma, the diverse identities of drug users, consumer culture related to residence and occupation, and regulatory frameworks encompassing societal regulations and values. The theory of Communicative Power highlights the importance of public space as a deliberative arena in the rehabilitation process involving drug users, families, communities, and other stakeholders. This research provides a comprehensive overview of the construction of drug user rehabilitation in Indonesia from various perspectives and aspects that need attention to enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs.

Controversy and Voluntarism Among the Elite: An Ethnographic Study of the Sufi Community in Cibingbin, Indonesia

This article explores the intricate dynamics among Sufi elites in Cibingbin, highlighting the significant tensions within this distinctive group. The Sufi community is deeply divided, engaging in intense debates and frequent confrontations with each other. Central to these disputes are issues surrounding the Nasab dialectics, an ideology associated with the habaib that stresses the concept of voluntarism among the Sufi elite. These internal debates are most intense between the habaib faction, known as Kanzus Sholawat Cibingbin, and the local religious authorities, referred to as Kyai Kampung. As each group digs in and solidifies their doctrinal positions, the struggle for dominance in the public sphere becomes more pronounced. This phenomenon, which aligns with Habermas's theories regarding the legitimacy of power in public spaces, has unexpectedly fueled the momentum of the Laskar Walisongo movement. Despite the apparent weakening of the habaib's defensive stance, both the habaib and the Kyai Kampung have maintained considerable local influence. The ongoing power struggle highlights the complex interplay between belief, influence and control within this segment of the Sufi community. Ultimately, they have made public spaces an arena not just for collective imagery, but also the most vital part of the organisation’s sustainability or spirit.

Reflections on Habermas’s discourse ethics

In this article Habermas’s discourse ethics is critically interpreted. The article starts with a brief intellectual biography of Habermas (section 1), showing that his life and work has always had a strong ethical and political dimension – leading to the concept of discourse ethics. Next, it is indicated how Habermas’s work in the 1970s culminated via four steps in his major philosophical work – the Theory of Communicative Action (section 2) published in 1981. In the next two sections Habermas Theory of Communicative Action is applied to ethics and morality in the form of his discourse ethics – the heart of this contribution (section 3). In this process the following four aspects of Habermas’s discourse ethics are discussed: Its qualified Kantian deontological dimension, as well as its universalist, cognitivist, and formalist dimensions. In the following section (4) the discussion of discourse ethics is shifted to Habermas’s theory of law, deliberative politics, and democracy which is a further application of ideas developed in his Theory of Communicative Action. The contribution then ends with some critical remarks on Habermas discourse ethics and sketch of law and politics (section 5) Three arguments are presented in this regard. First, Habermas argument is judged to be too closely related to abstract rationality. Secondly the distinction that Habermas makes between morality and ethics is critically investigated. Finally, the Habermasian use of justification in his argument is critically compared with the concept of application. These points of criticism, though, indicate that the debate on Habermas’s discourse ethics is ongoing.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article deals with the concept of discourse ethics (in the Kantian tradition of ethics) as developed firstly by Karel Otto Apel and later refined by Jurgen Habermas for his own purposes. The line of argumentation developed here has significant relevance for philosophy, moral theory, law, and theology. Discourse ethics can be considered as a contemporary version of Kantian deontological ethics after the linguistic turn.

Urban Themes Constructed in the Persian Twitter

This study was conducted to investigate Persian tweets with urban content on Twitter. The main attention of this research is 22 city-related words applied to the tweets. The method of this research is to mine big data extracted from Twitter over the course of four weeks. The basis for analyzing is the text of tweets. The applied concepts and theories are borrowed from Habermas's public sphere theory, Lefebvre's spatial dialectic, and Manuel Castles’ space of flows. The results obtained from the analysis of tweets suggest that Persian Twitter users emphasize the central cities of Tehran and Isfahan when discussing the city. The space of flow theory is also visible without it contradicting the spatial dialectic of Lefebvre due to the spatial structure of Twitter, as users go back and forth between the urban space and the online space in an attempt to have a conversation with each other about urban issues. In Persian Twitter without historical and spatial logic, users write about the city and communicate with each other. Finally, despite the centrism mentality in Persian Twitter, it has challenged the possibility of forming a dialogue space for citizens.

Social interactions in mandatory teleworking: From instrumental rationality to the theory of communicative action in the workplace context

Interpersonal relationships at work usually occur face-to-face. During the Covid-19 pandemic, these interactions shifted to a virtual way. This essay intends to analyze telecommuting from an individual perspective, bringing Max Weber’s theory of social action and Jürgen Habermas theory of communicative action to the discussion. Instrumental rationality has prevailed since the Second Industrial Revolution, reaching its apogee in the capitalist production system with Taylor-Fordism. It was not found in the literature an approach to telework with a focus on the interaction between individuals, the core of the Weberian theory of social action. Habermas’ theory of communicative action, in this approach, is used to emphasize the importance of language and communication in telework.

Life of Communication Process: A Critical and Philosophical Approach Study of Communication Process

Contextualizing Life of Communication is the study conducted to interpret the philosophical developments respective to critical approaches of Communication as a discipline, Communication as an idea, Communication as a process and Communication as a phenomenon, which results in the formulation of seven major traditions of Communication. This Research is an effort to identify the ontological existence and perspective of Communication, acclaiming it as a condition and state of mind in which we live all the Time consciously and unknowingly. The Research is an attempt to identify the importance of thinking, analyzing and understanding Imagination and self-awareness in the context of Communication. The methodological practice followed in this Research is Habermas's Public sphere theory, along with dialectal hermeneutical analysis through constructivism theory. The Research concluded that Imagination keeps Communication alive till it fulfils the purpose of its existence, and self-awareness is that purpose which needs to be attained through the precondition of thoughts (imaginations). For the sake of conclusion, a prospecting model derived from interpretations of various philosophers and Allama Iqbal’s Model of Life is presented in this Research.

Brand Activism and Democratic Legitimacy: Exploring Pitfalls through a Habermasian Analysis

Brand activism has emerged as a prominent practice among corporations, as they publicly take a stand on contentious socio-political issues such as gender inequality, climate change, or discrimination, often through advertising. While extensive research has been conducted on the impact of brand activism as a marketing tool, examining its effects on sales, brand image, consumer attitudes, and authenticity, only a limited number of studies have studied its influence on public debate and processes of democratic legitimation. The latter have portrayed brand activism as an empowering force for the supported social movements, the public sphere, and democratic legitimacy, largely ignoring the consideration of potential negative effects. To address this gap, Habermas's political theory and Nancy Fraser's ideas on the resignification of feminist discourse are applied to 'femvertising' (feminist advertising). Fraser's ideas show how feminist values within femvertsing and the cultural progress they spurred, have paradoxically come to legitimate an institutional order that runs counter to feminist visions of a just society. Since this institutional order is based on power structures in which corporations flourish, brand activism should be understood as a form of 'opinion management' in the Habermasian sense of the word. Applying Fraser's ideas moreover shows how brand activism complicates the problems associated with 'regular' public relations. By claiming to be activist, yet legitimating existing power structures, brand activism is not merely depoliticizing but also incapacitating resistance from within. These findings demonstrate how brand activism might be detrimental to public opinion formation and the democratic legitimacy of our institutional order, but also that Habermas might be overly optimistic in his confidence in civil society.

A developmental logic: Habermas's theory of social evolution

AbstractIn the paper, I first consider how his theory of social norms is connected to his theory of social evolution by examining the importance of learning in his theory of both social norms and social evolution. Then I turn to David Owen and Amy Allen's critiques of Jürgen Habermas. My aim is to develop their critique of Habermas by elucidating an important but neglected distinction between the developmental logic and the developmental dynamics in Habermas's theory of social evolution. Drawing on this distinction, I claim that Habermas's theory is problematic in that he underestimates the importance of the developmental dynamics. By introducing the distinction between individual learning and social learning, I also question his account of progress as accumulative experience of learning. This is because, unlike cumulative culture at the level of phylogenesis, individuals ontogenetically experience a kind of non‐cumulative social learning. Unlike cumulative culture, each individual has to undergo a kind of non‐cumulative social learning. The problem is that Habermas conceives the learning process too narrowly such that learning does not guarantee social evolution.

COGNITIVE COMMUNICATION AND RESOURCE APPROACH TO SOCIAL WORK PRACTICES

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Recent research and publications are analyzed by integrating the potential of Socratic dialogue, the tradition of dialogical philosophy by M. Buber, J. Habermas's theory of communicative action, discourse ethics by J. Habermas and K.-O. Apel, the phenome-nological investigations into the topology of the Other by B. Waldenfels, trust research by O. Kozhemiakina, historical explorations of “distant closeness” by V. Yermolenko, and other detailed studies that specifically elaborate on cognitive (linguistic) communication as the linguistic-communicative competence of the social worker. The research objective. The research objective is to define the theoretical and practical significance of cognitive (linguistic) communication and volunteerism as a resource in social work. The statement of basic materials. In the paradigm of the communicative turn from subjectivity to intersubjectivity, this study suggests employing the concept of cognitive communication, defining its content and form based on social work theories. It covers psychologically oriented, humanistic-personalistic, role theory and stigma, and the Strength-Based Perspective theories. To describe volunteerism as a resource in social work practices, Pierre Bourdieu's concept of social capital is utilized.

Explanatory Value of Reason in Public Space: Use and Misuse in Political Speech

In this article, the concept of communicative rationality and its practical application in public debates will be explored. Focusing on the importance of the communicative treatment of reason, validity, and its practical implications, the article critically examines Jürgen Habermas's theory of communicative action and its ethical elements. The potential difficulties of bridging the gap between theory and practice are highlighted by discussing the distinction between theoretical discourse and discursive practice. Through an analysis of Habermas' approach, the paper aims to improve public discourse quality and understand how communicative reason works in practical terms. It considers the pragmatic context of communicative action, the importance of claiming validity, and the process of validating. It discusses the concept of communicative reason in the context of concrete instances of communication, such as public discussion. It emphasizes the importance of communicative reason and the pursuit of the common good in promoting productive discussion and compromise.

Digital Media and Dynamics of Contemporary Public Sphere: Towards a Theoretical Framework

The article examines the dynamics and change of the contemporary public sphere caused by the emergence of digital media and their transformative impact on social life and communicative professions. For this purpose the stages in Jürgen Habermas's theory of the public sphere are traced, and, the main concepts in his two main works, dedicated to the classical public sphere (1962) and the one formed under the influence of digital media (2022), are analysed. The authors examine importance of this transformation on the democratic process, the platformization of the media and its influence in modern society, as well as the problems of technology in the field of social networks. The article undertakes an attempt to build a theoretical framework for explaining the development of the contemporary public sphere in the conditions of accelerated change in communication technologies.

Research on the Communication Alienation and Cracking Path of College Students in the Internet Era

Jurgen Habermas is a world-renowned philosopher, the theory of communication behavior is one of the important theoretical contributions of Habermas, and studies the problem of the alienation of communication among college students in the Internet era. It is not only beneficial to analyze the factors arising from the alienation phenomenon, but also helpful to find a better way to solve the problem of communication alienation. The speed of network technology development is accelerating, and the influence of college students is more and more profound. Habermas believes that communication rationality is the basis of communication behavior, including the elements of understandable language, intersubjectivity, environment and so on. Based on Habermas's communication behavior theory, analyzing the communication alienation phenomenon of college students in the Internet era, it also puts forward the path to solve the alienation of college students' communication: college students should communicate rationally, make the communication language appropriate, two-way interaction between the subjects, and return to the real world.

Exploring Social and Environmental Accounting Reporting Through Jurgen Habermas's Critical Theory

The objective of this research is to uncover how accounting practices related to social and environmental aspects in the Bakaru hydropower plant are carried out. The informants in this study consisted of employees and local communities around the company. They have a good understanding of the issues under study. Data is collected through observation and recording of documentation in various situations in the field. The collected data were analyzed using a qualitative approach using the theory of critical communicative action from Jürgen Habermas. This approach is used to examine the real practice of social and environmental accounting. The results showed that the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program at the Bakaru hydropower plant is in line with the view of how natural relationships should be carried out, in accordance with the concept of truth proposed by Jurgen Habermas. That is, companies are responsible for the impact of their operations, and this is based on the expectations of various interested parties. The company has also achieved a level of compliance in this regard, by implementing CSR through disclosure to the public. However, there is a problem in the budget allocation for CSR programs every year, because the implementation of these programs does not run effectively. In this case, the Bakaru hydropower plant does not fully meet claims of authenticity or honesty, and most of the programs carried out are still assistance and do not have a focus on sustainability in terms of reporting, prevention, and maintenance of environmental activities.

Revisiting the Kantian legacy in Habermas: the philosophical project of modernity and decolonial critiques to rationality and cosmopolitanism

This paper deals with Amy Allen’s critique of Habermas's theory of modernity, democracy, and cosmopolitanism. I will focus on her arguments that touch on the role of rationality. Allen's critique of Habermas will be presented, especially where she argues that focusing on rationality is ethnocentric and promotes the political exclusion of subaltern groups. The extent to which Allen's critiques affect the emancipatory potential of Habermasian theory will next be assessed. It is finally argued that Allen's position leads to a denial of the distinction between social rationality and irrationality as legitimate criteria. The consequences of such a position for the political sphere will then be analyzed.

ANALISIS PERILAKU POLITIK GENERASI MILENIAL DAN Z INDONESIA DALAM VIRTUAL SPHERE

Quantitatively, penetration of Indonesian internet and social media users has increased sharply in the last two years, because it is ranked third in the world. Social media has become a new form of public sphere which is then called the virtual sphere. Social media as a virtual sphere is used by the millennial and Z generations to respond, criticize and build public opinion related to political issues in Indonesia. This research aims to determine the development of political behavior of the Indonesian millennial and Z generation in the virtual sphere. The theoretical basis used is Jurgen Habermas's public sphere theory and Papacharissi's Virtual Sphere theory. The results of the analysis show that the political behavior of the millennial and Z generations in the virtual sphere is influenced by their respective backgrounds. The behavior of the Indonesian millennial and Z generations tends to be impolite. The younger generation tends to carry out cyberbullying, hate speech, hoaxes and character assassination against parties who have different political views.