Jürgen Habermas’s Legacy for Critical Media and Communication Studies

Name: Jürgen Habermas’s Legacy for Critical Media and Communication Studies
Start: 2026-10-27T17:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-10-27T19:00:00+00:00
Location: University of Westminster

Schedule

Tue Oct 27 2026 at 05:00 pm to 07:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

University of Westminster | London, EN

This is a research seminar from the University of Westminster's Communication and Media Research Institute
About this Event

A CAMRI Seminar with Professor Christian Fuchs (University of Paderborn)

About

This seminar asks: What is Jürgen Habermas’s legacy for media and communication studies?

Jürgen Habermas (1929-2026) was a leading figure in Frankfurt School critical theory. His most influential works have been The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962), The Theory of Communicative Action (1981), and Between Facts and Norms (1992). He has profoundly influenced discussions across academic fields, including media and communication studies, as well as public debates. This presentation asks: How relevant are Habermas’s key categories today for understanding contemporary society and its digital and communicative landscapes?

It engages with Habermasian concepts such as the (digital) public sphere, communicative action, the colonisation of the lifeworld, the (re-)feudalisation of the public sphere, and the fragmented public sphere. It situates these categories in the conditions that societies face today, including the rise of far-right movements, high levels of inequality, political polarisation, wars, environmental crisis, disinformation campaigns, digital capitalism, platform fascism, algorithmic and AI-based control, and challenges to the existence of public service media.