tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post8731271198504621273..comments2024-03-23T04:01:39.348-04:00Comments on Understanding Society: The public sphereDan Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-64571555040306849942010-09-04T17:39:38.434-04:002010-09-04T17:39:38.434-04:00Siyuan -- thanks. This is an interesting observat...Siyuan -- thanks. This is an interesting observation about imperial China; I would paraphrase your point by saying that there were officials, literati, and involved elites who constituted a "public" at various levels of society; without asserting that there was a mass public that included a significant fraction of the society.Dan Littlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-90275939545095860232010-09-04T17:37:38.455-04:002010-09-04T17:37:38.455-04:00Dan -- thanks for the comment. I would distinguis...Dan -- thanks for the comment. I would distinguish civil society from the public sphere along these lines: civil society is the "sphere" of individual activity, private associations, and the full range of voluntary and self-interested transactions. The public sphere, as indicated in the posting, is a place for citizens; persons with an interest in the common good. It is a locus for debate and consideration of the public good. I'm thinking of the distinction both Marx and Rousseau seem to have in mind in distinguishing between bourgeois and citoyen.Dan Littlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-21353103031226086452010-09-04T12:51:01.310-04:002010-09-04T12:51:01.310-04:00I'm interested in how you'd distinguish be...I'm interested in how you'd distinguish between public sphere and civil society and whether civil society is a more flexible concept in terms of application to different historical societies. <br /><br />Lovely blog, very brain-yummy.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04158943109849313176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-56052906794927786212010-09-03T21:28:32.150-04:002010-09-03T21:28:32.150-04:00According to Chinese historians, in the imperial t...According to Chinese historians, in the imperial time of China there were all kinds of public sphere at different societal levels. What interests me is that all kinds of public activities at lower levels have high autonomy, especially at the village and county levels. After foundation of P. R. China, the local autonomy has been reduced sharply by copying the administrative system of Soviet Union. From 1980s, the local autonomy is recovering, especially in the past ten years. This kind of traditional autonomy is localized Chinese democracy. The central government of China is learning how to balance the central political power and the local autonomy by giving more and more decision power to local government. If this learning is going well, Chinese society can achieve both freedom and order.Siyuan Songnoreply@blogger.com