The public as projection
ISSN: 0368-492X
Article publication date: 23 December 2020
Issue publication date: 4 May 2021
Abstract
Purpose
To develop a new conceptualisation of the public particular emphasis is placed on later developments in the work of Niklas Luhmann using theoretical terms such as medium, form and observation.
Design/methodology/approach
Current theoretical approaches conceptualise the public domain as a sphere, field or system, and theorists disagree about the range of meanings of the term public. While acknowledging that diversity of meanings, this paper seeks to avoid the limitations imposed by figures such as sphere, field or system by invoking the sociological theory developed by Niklas Luhmann.
Findings
Building on Luhmann’s work, the public is conceived here as (connection) medium and projection.
Originality/value
The paper draws on a range of diverse phenomena to illustrate the wider scope of this conception and its potential application, including public interactions, the transformation of texts as publications, audience formation, the role of media communication and the concept of traffic. In so doing, the paper contributes to the development of system theory as well as to a wide-ranging theory of the public.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author thanks the anonymous peer reviewers for their comments and Michael King for his comments on an earlier draft of the paper.
Citation
Morgner, C. (2021), "The public as projection", Kybernetes, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 929-941. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-06-2020-0385
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited