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By Dr. Shrout

This week was largely concerned with the African-American public sphere, and the ways in which participating in that sphere could be useful for people otherwise excluded from formal politics, but who did not want to, or could not, engage in violent rebellion.

The question of whether the public sphere is a useful concept, or whether having a public sphere was useful to enslaved and free people of color, was of concern to both Sherwood and Carolyn. Sherwood – who was initially unimpressed by Habermas’s arguments – was persuaded of their applicability to this particular case. Carolyn was also persuaded, but raised concerns about the viability of Newman’s argument, given his occasionally bombastic language.

Avery linked the reading to our past discussions of autonomy and Native print culture. I would encourage everyone to consider the viability of the concept of the public sphere to other situations we’ve discussed – and particularly to American Indian print culture – and to query the utility of “the public sphere” as a concept going forward. In what situations is it useful? Less useful?