ABSTRACT
Within social theory there is a legitimate interest, in examining the public/private dichotomy. Changes in the nature of each sphere have been the result of an ongoing socio-historical process of transference of functions from the private to the public realm. The outcome of this process has been a growing public sphere and a shrinking private one. The transformation of the two spheres is dialectical and should be perceived as such. The term "private sphere" has no meaning without the public one and vice versa. The ideas presented here do not differ from Sennett's interpretation, who claims that secularization and capitalism destroyed the public realm. Concomitantly, the private sphere is perceived to be a protective environment. The overall result has been a social vacuity of private life, that makes individuals paradoxically yearn for those socially promoted myths of stable family and intensive community life.
