Counterpublic studies and the need for a post-Habermasian theory of communication

• Grant number: 24/17889-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications - Theory of Communication
• Principal Investigator: Rúrion Soares Melo
• Grantee: Celina Lerner
• Host Institution: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/22387-0 - Crises of democracy: critical theory and the diagnosis of present time, AP.TEM

Abstract

Linked to thematic project nº 2019/22387-0, this research focus on the notion of counterpublics, communicational arenas distinct from the dominant public sphere and which oppose it, stands out among the post-Habermasian conceptual propositions. Initially used to designate alternative public spaces for the working class, then for women, black people and other subordinated groups, today, the studies of counterpublics extend the notion to movements with a conservative bias whose agendas run in the opposite direction to the emancipation of dominated social groups. This project proposes - based on the analysis of recent empirical research - the systematization of the theory underlying studies and counterpublics in Brazil and the proposition of categories capable of accounting for the multidimensionality of the phenomenon.