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CHAPTER 7. THE EXPANDING PUBLIC SPHERE 102
Usenet newsgroups are unquestionably a component of the informal zone of the
public sphere. Although Habermas (1996) argues that the informal zone is comprised
of organizations and associations dedicated to influencing public policy, a
more inclusive definition of the informal public sphere is suggested here. The
definition of the public sphere should be expanded to include all forms of “associational
space,” which provide the primary opportunity for citizens to converse
with each other. These “core settings of informal public life” (Oldenburg
1989) have been identified by several terms, including “free spaces” (Evans &
Boyte 1986), “third places” (Oldenburg 1989) and “micromobilization contexts”
(McAdam 1988).
Evans & Boyte (1986, 86) defined “free spaces” to include those autonomous
places in which ordinary citizens “are able to learn a new self-respect, a deeper
and more assertive group identity, public skills, and values of cooperation and
civic virtue.” Put simply, they continue, “free spaces are settings between private
lives and large-scale institutions where ordinary citizens can act with dignity,
independence, and vision.” In their work, Evans & Boyte (1986) identify
churches and informal women’s groups as free spaces. Oldenburg (1989) used
the term “third place” to differentiate a space that was neither work nor home,
and in which people had the freedom and autonomy to engage each other in
public discussion. Third places – salons in the 18th century, barber shops, diners
and corner taverns in the 20th, and perhaps electronic newsgroups in the
21st – are those autonomous settings, frequently featuring “regular” conversants
(Liebow 1967, Anderson 1976), in which participants are free to discuss a wide
range of social and political issues. McAdam (1988) used the term “micromobilization
context” to suggest that such places have the possibility of serving as
mobilizing tools sparking social movement activity.
However, even without any clearly identified political activity resulting from the
discussions, these associational spaces contribute to the opinion- and will-formation
exercise that is the function of the public sphere in a democratic society. Usenet
newsgroups provide extensive opportunities for individuals to comment on topics
of public concern, and more importantly to engage in public discourse about issues
of importance to society with other citizens. To the extent that these places are
few and far between, democracy is threatened (Bellah et al. 1991, Barber 1984),
as political discussion becomes formalized formulaic (Stanley 1983), losing the
spontaneity necessary for full-fledged citizen discussion (Habermas 1996).
Newsgroups, perhaps more so than any other forms of associational space, provide