Considering the dynamics between the Public Sphere, Social Structures, and Power

            I found the ideas of social facts and brute facts brought up in the article on the EU particularly intriguing in that they seemed to illustrate how there might be a dynamic between a possible global public sphere and the current international environment.  Particularly with social facts, this concept brought the focus back to the more constructivist argument like that of Wendt. Viewing the public sphere from this perspective would lead to it taking on the appearance of having considerably more influence.

            The article describes a social fact as something that is socially constructed as opposed to a brute fact which exists independently from the understanding of any individual or group. More importantly, social facts like the existence of a nation or state are kept intact by “banal” activities. The article used hanging a national flag in the background as an example of this. Furthermore, the article goes into detail about how things such as the ease one can get through customs can change a person’s concept of time and space relative to that of nation states. This leads to some interesting possible dynamics when paired with the latter phase of “socializing human rights norms into domestic practices” covered in the article by Risse and Sikkink in which behaviors and action at first serving state interests are later internalized essentially becoming a new kind of social fact.

            If one is willing to accept the constructivist premise, then one can see that the public sphere can have a huge impact on shaping many of the social facts that exist today. This was particularly brought to light for me during my research for last week’s activity when I came across an article in The National Interest by Mark G. Brennan titled NGO: The New Missionaries. The article argues that in some ways NGO’s have taken on the role held more by missionaries in the past. It does seem that region and philosophy has been an integral part in the development and spread of values. Following this thinking, perhaps the public sphere has always existed in one form or another and has played a significant if subtle role in shaping the world as we understand it. On the other hand, considering how the cultures of dominant powers throughout history seem to have spread more one has to concede that there is a limit to what the public sphere can achieve on its own with the assistance of brute force. Either way there does seem to be some sort of dynamic present.