ABSTRACT
The public sphere, or, as we prefer, the sphere of publics (Calhoun 1997: 100), appears as a structure of a particular place and time. As a fundamental support in the making of democracy, both historically and in contemporary polities, it has spread and developed, and has become multiple and global. To understand these propositions, we must remember that publics appear metaphorically as structures. They are given their structural appearance through regularized patterns of social interaction. They are culturally constituted in human interaction. Publics form as people meet as equals in their differences, and develop together a capacity to act among themselves and with other publics. Democracy is created in the interactive life of publics. To substantiate this position, we will review the changing history of publics and the
different theoretical approaches to the subject. We will analyze the cultural constitution of publics. We will move from the analysis of the structural transformation of the public sphere toward the analysis of the making of publics and spheres of publics. We will also move from a consideration of the public as a specific site for rational deliberation toward the analysis of other key cultural forms of public action: appearance, display, embodiment, contestation, competition, and other forms of political participation. As we proceed, the normative dimension of publics and their study will be addressed.
