Past the Silicon Valley: Towards a European Digital Public Sphere
Type
conference keynote
Date Issued
2017-10-20
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
The recurrent complaint about the lack of a European ‘demos’ misses an important point. Democracy never existed in an unmediated space, the demos is always shaped by the spaces and instruments through which assemblies can be summoned. In Europe’s intellectual history, physical places as well as communication spaces like journals and magazines have played a pivotal role in shaping a particular form of critical modernity. But what about the new virtual infrastructures? What kind of ‘digital public sphere’ is emerging here, and what role could or should ‘Europe’ play in this regard? Do we need a governance of the European virtual space and who should be entrusted with it? Should we work towards lifting the national regulations and harmonize European policies in order to create a unified European digital space, on the model of a ‘unified market’? Or should a European digital public sphere be conceived of as a digital commons, emerging through a bottom-up process of civil society?
Funding(s)
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to practical use / society
HSG Profile Area
SHSS - Kulturen, Institutionen, Maerkte (KIM)
Event Title
9th Käte Hamburger Dialogue – Praxis Europa
Event Location
Essen
Event Date
20 October 2017
Division(s)
Eprints ID
253221