Herbers:Post-Publics

Crises and disruptions in society, triggered by factors such as digitalization or sociocultural, ecological, and political transformation processes, fundamentally change the communicative sphere of the public. However, the theoretical development regarding the public only partially responds to these transformations, which hinders a valid analysis of its problems and challenges. Martin R. Herbers aims to address this deficit with his new theory of the public, the "post-publics." This theory integrates disruptive transformations and opposes the understanding of the public as a static sphere of communication. It focuses on individuals who publish topics of personal interest through mediated practices. This creates a connection between the collectively oriented "public sphere" and the individually oriented "post-publics": the integrative "publicness." This theory allows for the empirical capture of disruptive transformations in public communication both individually and collectively.