Critiquing Habermas, this volume bring fresh perspectives and ideas to bear on debates about the public sphere. * Engages in different ways with Jurgen Habermas's seminal study, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. * Moves beyond Habermas by reflecting on current social processes and events, such as anti-corporate protests and the emergence of the Internet. * Considers alternative theories by Bakhtin, Bourdieu and Honneth, among others. * Combines work by established commentators and new researchers.