ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the Habermas’s model of the sphere in a specific historical context. Habermas identifies the public sphere as a sphere of discourse, originating among the eighteenth-century bourgeoisie, which was aimed at shaping the role and function of the state, but was largely detached from the institutions of the state. Sanitary reform, pursued in the name of public health, was one of the most significant means by which the state intervened in the life of private citizens during the nineteenth century – so much so, that it is often seen as the archetype of expanding and increasingly intrusive. The police commissioners contributed a substantial number of pamphlets to the discussion of public health reforms, both collectively and as individuals. The public convenience simultaneously tackled all these problems of disease, dirt and immorality, bringing ‘cleanliness and decency as well as the public health’, not only for the users of these facilities but for all inhabitants passing through the streets.
