Research
Information & Communication Technology and aIndividuala: Prospects & Concerns
Technologies have always played a significant role in the development of human civilization. The contemporary information and communication technologies are also expected to play a similar role. These technologies facilitate of connectivity and cost-effectiveness are such characteristics of ICTs that help individual raise its political, economic and social capabilities. However, ICTs also pose certain threats to the socio-economic life of individuals. The individual seems threatened by loss of privacy, become prey to techaddiction, and suffer from piracy issues. The very nature of ICTs makes these issues global in character, demanding fresh legislation equally global in nature. This article explicates this issue at length by juxtaposing the research findings from the existing research and comes up with a theoretical model for better understanding.
New Public Sphere in an Emerging Global Polity: Prospects for the Issue of Climate Change
State has generally been considered, internally and externally as the most powerful independent political authority. However, it has to engage with civil society and public sphere, the two significant components of nation-state polity at home. Globalization has profound impact on this power structure and shifted it to global level. Globalization also brought with it mundane issues like climate change which the state alone is incapable to cope with. Several powerful states and MNCs even become obstacle in fighting it. Civil society organizations (CSOs) with their limited resources are combating this issue that threatens human existence on this planet. However, ICTs enabled new public sphere brings in a ray of hope by opening new prospects for CSOs to deal with this threat. This article is meant to juxtapose the diversity of research-findings into a compact piece of knowledge and show strengths of NPS for civil society in perspective of climate change.
From Habermas Model to New Public Sphere: A Paradigm Shift
Though Habermas model of public sphere was framed for describing the public and sphere at the state-level however, its principles and mechanisms are postulated as relevant to the theory and practices of global public sphere (GPS) and global civil society (GCS). The emerging digital technologies and particularly global connectivity through Internet and social networking have added new dimensions to the existing GPS thereby generating a new public sphere (NPS). The determinants of NPS like globalization, social software etc. do not seem to stand against the Habermas view of public sphere rather stand supportive and enhancing to the principles and requirements of an ideal public sphere both at the national and global levels. This paper unfolds this issue at length by juxtaposing the research findings from the existing research.
