The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts

In the light of J. Habermas’ notion of the ‘public sphere’, this paper explores how a western concept of the ‘public sphere’ can be applied to the women empowerment notion of a ‘Muslim context’ (WEMC). The following questions are asked and discussed in this paper: Can Habermas’ concept be confined...

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Main Author: Juan Wang
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi 2010
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/785/1/2.2010-1-Juan-english-1.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/785/
http://www.ukm.my/geografia/v1/index.php
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author Juan Wang,
author_facet Juan Wang,
author_sort Juan Wang,
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description In the light of J. Habermas’ notion of the ‘public sphere’, this paper explores how a western concept of the ‘public sphere’ can be applied to the women empowerment notion of a ‘Muslim context’ (WEMC). The following questions are asked and discussed in this paper: Can Habermas’ concept be confined only to a secular way of life? How is a public space to be transformed into a ‘safe space’ given the WEMC approaches to communication, resource and alliance building? If public space is the outcome of WEMC/Alliance work with religious/government officials and community leaders, does this create a ‘safe space’ for women? How does communication take place in a controlled ’political space’ and who is in control? The concept of a ‘public sphere’ acquired philosophical and sociological meanings as a notion of the social order in which there is room for societal debate, and accessible to citizens. Does the nature of authority and leadership in China translate meaningfully into the ‘public sphere’? Conclusion: it is still not easy to define a public sphere within a WEMC context since only with the government sanction does the public space become a safe space. Given the nature of authority and leadership in China, it is difficult to see whether a ‘public sphere’ can be seen as a space in which we negotiate our differences with one another and mobilize around a common purpose; the issue becomes very complex.
format Article
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institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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publisher Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi
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spelling my-ukm.journal-7852016-12-14T06:28:10Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/785/ The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts Juan Wang, In the light of J. Habermas’ notion of the ‘public sphere’, this paper explores how a western concept of the ‘public sphere’ can be applied to the women empowerment notion of a ‘Muslim context’ (WEMC). The following questions are asked and discussed in this paper: Can Habermas’ concept be confined only to a secular way of life? How is a public space to be transformed into a ‘safe space’ given the WEMC approaches to communication, resource and alliance building? If public space is the outcome of WEMC/Alliance work with religious/government officials and community leaders, does this create a ‘safe space’ for women? How does communication take place in a controlled ’political space’ and who is in control? The concept of a ‘public sphere’ acquired philosophical and sociological meanings as a notion of the social order in which there is room for societal debate, and accessible to citizens. Does the nature of authority and leadership in China translate meaningfully into the ‘public sphere’? Conclusion: it is still not easy to define a public sphere within a WEMC context since only with the government sanction does the public space become a safe space. Given the nature of authority and leadership in China, it is difficult to see whether a ‘public sphere’ can be seen as a space in which we negotiate our differences with one another and mobilize around a common purpose; the issue becomes very complex. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi 2010 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/785/1/2.2010-1-Juan-english-1.pdf Juan Wang, (2010) The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts. Geografia : Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 6 (1). pp. 13-22. ISSN 2180-2491 http://www.ukm.my/geografia/v1/index.php
spellingShingle Juan Wang,
The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts
title The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts
title_full The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts
title_fullStr The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts
title_full_unstemmed The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts
title_short The notion of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in Muslim contexts
title_sort notion of habermas’ ‘public sphere’ and its relevance to interrogations of women’s empowerment and leadership in muslim contexts
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/785/1/2.2010-1-Juan-english-1.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/785/
http://www.ukm.my/geografia/v1/index.php
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/