Conceptualizing a distributed, multi-scalar global public sphere through activist communication practices in the World Social Forum

Stephansen, H. 2019. Conceptualizing a distributed, multi-scalar global public sphere through activist communication practices in the World Social Forum. Global Media and Communication. 15 (3), pp. 345-360. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766519872777

TitleConceptualizing a distributed, multi-scalar global public sphere through activist communication practices in the World Social Forum
TypeJournal article
AuthorsStephansen, H.
Abstract

This article contributes to debate about how to conceptualize the global public sphere. Drawing on media practice theory and ethnographic research on media activism in the World Social Forum, it shows how ‘global publics’ can be constituted through a diverse range of activist communication practices that complicate both conventional hierarchies of scale and contemporary theorizations of publics as personalized networks. It develops an understanding of the global public sphere as an emergent formation made up of multiple, interlinked publics at different scales and emphasizes the significance of collective communication spaces for actors at the margins of the global network society.

KeywordsGlobal public sphere, World Social Forum, social movements, media activism, place, scale
JournalGlobal Media and Communication
Journal citation15 (3), pp. 345-360
ISSN1742-7665
Year2019
PublisherSage
Accepted author manuscript
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766519872777
Web address (URL)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1742766519872777
Publication dates
Published online18 Sep 2019
Published31 Dec 2019
FunderESRC

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