ABSTRACT
Public spheres are political bodies such as trade unions and environmental groups that do not exist as part of formal political authority but rather in confrontation with that authority. Along with the private sphere of the family and household, they constitute the lifeworld, our everyday taken-for-granted world where much social interaction and reproduction are governed by mutual understanding and democratic discourse. It is the lifeworld that allows our common interests to emerge, sustains our culture, and promotes its progressive rationalisation through a process of social learning or praxis (see Box 10.9) whereby useful knowledge is continually refined by reflecting upon the results of applying academic and lay ideas in action (Dickens, 1996).
