JCI, Civil Sphere Theory Issue

摘要

This special issue of the Journal of Communication Inquiry (JCI) explores the promises and challenges of civil sphere theory for the study of communication and journalism in democratic societies. In 2006, Jeffrey Alexander, a cultural sociologist at Yale, published The Civil Sphere, the culmination of several decades of work exploring the "cultural structure at the heart of democratic life." Concerns about justice and democratic institutions animate Alexander's theory of the civil sphere, which takes seriously the roles that culture and communication play in struggles for justice in democratic societies. The theory focuses on communication and examines "real as compared to ideal civil societies." The theory is thus empirically grounded, offering a new conceptual framework for scholars in their analyses of the role of journalism and communication in social struggles.