Analysing a discussion on an online university forum: A communicative approach to discursive democracy
Abstract
This paper explores academics’ interaction in an online forum, where perceptions of racism are debated. The communicative model of democratic discourse directs the interpretation of an emancipatory discursive interaction, following a deductive textual analysis of the forum and interview texts from selected participants. The communicative model discourages normative judgements of others and focuses on an understanding of difference. The findings indicate that participants who engage in a deliberative demonstration of power, do not appreciate diverse social-historical contexts. Discursive interactions which indicate an understanding of participants’ contexts are marked by a mitigating and sympathetic approach which allows for doubt in the judgements of participants. These mitigating interactions do however not persuade all participants to critically reflect on limiting opinions, attitudes and ways of interaction. An online curator who invites participants from diverse contexts might make the discourse more nuanced, create the opportunity to understand multiple realities and facilitate a transformative discussion.
References
Benhabib, S. 1992. Situating the self. New York: Routledge.
Habermas, J. 1987. The Theory of Communicative Action. Volume Two: Lifeworld and Systems: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Boston: Beacon Press.
Habermas, J. 1990a. "Discourse ethics: notes on a program of philosophical justification." In The Communicative Ethics Controversy, edited by S Benhabib and F Dallmayr, 60-110. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Habermas, J. 1990b. Moral consciousness and communicative action. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press
Habermas, J. 1993. Justification and application: remarks on discourse ethics. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Mangum, G. 2015. Building a better chat room. Comparative Media Studies.
Mezirow, J. n.d. "Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A Guide to Transformative and Emancipatory Learning." accessed 16 August 2017.
Thorseth, M. 2008. "Reflective judgement and enlarged thinking online." Ethics and Information Technology 10:221-231.
Vannini, A. 2009. Interpretive theory. In Encyclopedia of communicative theory, edited by S.W Littlejohn and K.A. Foss. Los Angeles: Sage.
Young, Iris Marion. 1990. "Justice and the politics of difference." In. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Young, Iris Marion. 1996. "Communication and the other: beyond deliberative democracy." In Democracy and difference: contesting the boundaries of the political, edited by S Benhabib, 120-135. Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press.
Young, Iris Marion. 1997. Intersecting voices: Dilemmas of gender, political philosophy, and policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Young, Iris Marion. 2000. Inclusion and democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Young, Iris Marion. 2001. "Comments on Seyla Benhabib, situating the self." New German Critique 62:165-172.
Copyright (c) 2019 Louise Postma
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors, copyright holders, may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors' publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: This is an electronic version of an article published in SAJHE, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX “XXX", DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAJHE) may be found.
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
