This book discusses the extent to which the theoretical relevance and analytical rigor of the concept of the public sphere is affected (or undermined) by current processes of transnationalization. The contributions address fundamental questions concerning the viability of a socially and politically effective public sphere in a post-Westphalian world. To what degree are the theoretical presuppositions regarding the critical function and democratic quality of public deliberation still valid in contemporary societies that adhere decreasingly to the Westphalian logic of closed national political communities and modes of communication? Under what conditions is the critical impetus of the public sphere still applicable in a world that, in Europe and beyond, is increasingly responding to processes of trans-border interaction and communication?

This book discusses the extent to which the theoretical relevance and analytical rigor of the concept of the public sphere is affected by current processes of transnationalization. The contributions address fundamental questions concerning the viability of a socially and politically effective public sphere in a post-Westphalian world.