Public Sphere in China and Japan - Term Paper Example

Public Sphere in China and Japan Introduction Western social science created an excess of standpoints connected, and conceptions related to, humans and communities. These concepts spring both from hypothetical and practical investigations. At the same time as the conceptions these investigations revealed have been adopted by a great number of scientists, as they are recognized generally pertinent to all the humans and communities, it is also essential to note that there are some areas, where these ideas can’t be easily adopted. These areas include Eastern countries, which do not represent a subject for social investigation, but rather a subject for historical report due to their deep cultural heritage and political traditions carefully preserved by them. However, such preservation can’t be considered to be always positive, because it delays the modernization and development. According to Briggs & Burke, (2005),  “in China and Japan alike, print was controlled more closely by the state than in Europe, delaying the development of a public sphere for centuries” (pp. 85-6). The given paper will discuss this statement and prove that the governmental control of media really delays the development of public sphere. Such supervision also does not allow to introduce democratic principles. It will also be discussed how new kinds of media can influence the public sphere in China and Japan. The role of the media It is possible to assume that media play the most important role in the development of public sphere. They are not simply an impartial partaker or an emotional reporter. On the contrary, they represent an evaluator of the situation or a modernizer of the present social balance. According to Habermas (2001), “By ‘the public sphere’ we mean first of all a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed. Access is guaranteed to all citizens.” p. 102 The disagreement or group effort of the media with strength that tries to take over the public area turns up in this environment. The connection between the country and the media, either as counteractive or as harmonizing, is affected by the character of government’s interference (Rheingold, 1993). This interference has a long history. The attempts to permeate the public area have been constantly suppressed by the government that in many countries delayed the development of the public sphere and the creation of democratic society. The function of media in building the democratic society is explained by Curran (1991): According to classical liberal theory, the public sphere (or, in more traditional terminology, ‘public forum’) is the space between government and society in which private individuals exercise formal and informal control over the state: formal control through the election of governments and informal control through the pressure of public opinion. The media are central to this process. They distribute the information necessary for citizens to make an informed choice at election time; they facilitate the formation of public opinion by providing an independent forum of debate; and they enable the people to shape the conduct of government by articulating their views. The media are thus the principal institutions of the public sphere or, in the rhetoric of nineteenth-century liberalism, ‘the fourth estate of the realm.’( p.27) Media and public sphere in China Mass media appeared in China at the beginning of the twentieth century. For the most part it was newspapers. Western definitions such as “knowledge” and “social equality” were brought in the culture and the process of renovation was started in China. However, in contrast to the West, media in China have not become private business, independent from the state authorities. The primary task of Chinese media is to serve the politics and propagate political ideas. Consequently, Chinese media can’t be called the public sphere. Now the new kinds of media like Internet are developing. The Western view in analyzing the political influence of the Internet is grounded on the question if it can renovate the public area and improve democracy. The expansion of the Internet represents a real threat for the Chinese government. It is not unexpected since, according to Rheingold (1993), “the political significance of CMC lies in its capacity to challenge the existing political hierarchy’s monopoly on powerful communications media” p.14 Notwithstanding that the government still tries to impose its supervision, for a state like China, which has always practiced media supervision and emphasized ideologic uniformity, this new kind of media [Internet] represents an opportunity of meliorating the course of the state’s democratizing by building the public area in the virtual world. In contrast to other kinds of media, Internet can weaken the government’s control, offer the space for people to talk about country’s concerns and build powerful public outlook. It can be assumed that the autonomous character of the Internet could help change the established administrative traditions to contemporary democratic, giving people the opportunity to take part in political actions. Media and public sphere in Japan In Japan, with its unique historical course, it is uncertain if the contemporary ideas about public area and democratic system, created in the West, can be pertinent in the Japanese environment (Woznicki, 1998). The outlook of Japanese media is rather ethnocentric and very different from that in the United States. Ueno Toshiya, media activist who believes to renovate the Japanese public sphere states denies the existence of public sphere in Japan: The model of a public sphere in a slum is the same as the so-called authentic, normal model of the public sphere. Maybe it is easier to strive towards a resolution of this problem in the states, because there is a very strong heritage of a public sphere. But unfortunately there is nothing like it in Japan. Look at the Japanese term “oyake”, which means public. Sometimes it is even directly related to the government, or local government. I would even go so far to say that there is no public sphere in Japan. People can speak without context, without framework… (n Marginal Space and Periphery. Interview with Toshiya Ueno, 1998) Laurie Freeman in her writing titled "Mobilizing and Demobilizing the Japanese Public Sphere: Mass Media and the Internet in Japan" tries to find out if the Internet is able to organize and give power to Japanese public sphere. With that purpose she investigated the state and activity of Japanese media. According to her research outcomes, the situation in Japan remains uncertain; the time is needed to make a conclusion if the public sphere will realize its potential in Japan, because of the strict governmental control of media. Conclusion The conclusion can be made that the governmental control of media really delays the development of public sphere. Media play the most important role in the development of public sphere. They are not simply an impartial partaker or an emotional reporter. On the contrary, they represent an evaluator of the situation or a modernizer of the present social balance. The disagreement or group effort of the media with strength that tries to take over the public area turns up in this environment. The connection between the country and the media, either as counteractive or as harmonizing, is affected by the character of government’s interference. The attempts to permeate the public area are constantly suppressed by the government that in many countries delayed the development of the public sphere and the creation of democratic society. Now the new kinds of media like Internet are developing. The Western view in analyzing the political influence of the Internet is grounded on the question if it can renovate the public area and improve democracy (Curran, 1991). Having studied the situation in China, we see that notwithstanding that the government still tries to impose its supervision, for a state like China, which has always practiced media supervision and emphasized ideologic uniformity, this new kind of media [Internet] represents an opportunity of meliorating the course of the state’s democratizing by building the public area in the virtual world. In contrast to other kinds of media, Internet can weaken the government’s control, offer the space for people to talk about country’s concerns and build powerful public outlook. It can be assumed that the autonomous character of the Internet could help change the established administrative traditions to contemporary democratic, giving people the opportunity to take part in political actions. The situation in Japan is more difficult. Public area and democratic system, created in the West, can be pertinent in the Japanese environment. The outlook of Japanese media is rather ethnocentric and very different from that in the United States. The government tries to strictly control even those kinds of media, which theoretically are to remain independent. The only conclusion that can be made for now is that the time is needed to see if the public sphere will realize its potential in Japan, because of the strict governmental control of media. Works Cited Rheingold, H. The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Addison-Wesley. Publishing Company, 1993 Curran, J. Rethinking the media as a public sphere. In P. Dahlgren & C. Sparks (Eds.), Communication and citizenship: Journalism and the public sphere in the new media age (pp. 27-57). London: Routledge, 1991. Freeman, Laurie. Mobilizing and Demobilizing the Japanese Public Sphere: Mass Media and the Internet in Japan. In: Schwartz, Frank and Susan Pharr (eds.): The State of Civil Society in Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, Chapter 11, pp. 235-256 Woznicki, Krystian, On Marginal Space and Periphery. Interview with Toshiya Ueno, 1998, available at http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9802/msg00082.html Briggs, Asa and Burke, Peter. A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet 2nd edition, London: Polity, 2005. Habermas, J. The public sphere: An encyclopedia article. In M. G. Durham & D.M. Kellner (Eds.), Media and cultural studies: Key Work (pp. 102-108). Blackwell Publishers, 2001, p. 102. Read More