ABSTRACT
Regardless of whether “the public sphere” is understood as a forum, an institution, or a social structure, it is still considered to be essential for the existence of democracy. However, in digital networked media environments, the long-lasting Habermasian understanding of a united sphere in which the “casual compulsion of the better argument” will succeed does not fulfill necessary requirements to describe and understand contemporary formations of publics. A variety of terms such as “networked publics,” “performative publics,” or “dissonant publics” have been introduced to characterize the polyvocal, antagonistic, and contested character of today’s formations of publics. The introduction starts with two vignettes of current public events and their affective character: The ongoing war in the Ukraine and the funeral of the British queen. These cases are used to discuss the relevance of places, networks, and media for the formation of publics. After a brief introduction to essential debates on the public sphere in social anthropology as well as in media and communication studies, the introductory chapter provides an overview of contemporary research on the relationship between affect and publics.
The introduction ends with a brief outline of the volume’s structure and the individual chapters with their respective contributions to understanding publics fuelled by affect.
