THE SPACES OF PUBLIC DISSENSION - RECONSIDERING THE PUBLIC SPHERE

The centrality of consensus in contemporary inquiries into society lim its our understanding of dissent and contemporary disputation. This pa per raises the question of what rob dissent plays in contemporary soci ety by interrogating an exemplar of traditional social rhetoric, the p ublic sphere. An examination of the six characteristics of the public sphere suggests that the dominance of consensus has restricted our und erstanding of contemporary public argument and resistance. The possibi lity of de-centering consensus and the public sphere and reconsidering dissension is explored.