The transposition of the public sphere: From public space to cyberspace

The notion of public sphere has been attracting the attention of the sociology discipline since the 1960s. In the Turkish case, the notion of public sphere became salient after 1980 and primarily in relation to the question of Muslim headscarf. The question was so central to Turkish politics even in early 2000s that the country’s previous President would not invite the Prime Minister’s wife to the ceremonial events in the “official public sphere.”

What is public sphere? This concept can be seen as simply the non-private space in the general sense. But it is in fact a very contentious notion as most social scientists would testify. Its meaning changes according to time, place, and society. Today the term has gained new meaning and it is to being transformed into a radically new form that is politically significant. My paper examines the transposition process of the public sphere. I will begin with an Arendtian perspective and discuss the views of Habermas, Sennet and Sassen respectively. Besides I will address to questions of democracy in the context of the public sphere in Turkey.

I argue that the cyberspace is replacing conventional public sphere with the advent of Twitter and Facebook. I will draw attention to the power of social networks more as new efficient spheres in relation to the Tahrir Square democratic revolution in Egypt.