Jurgen Habermas

Biographical Sketch:
 Was born in 1929 in Dusseldorf, Germany
 His teen years were spent under Nazi control, which influenced his drive for freedom and
democracy
 His educational background was primarily in philosophy, German literature and psychology
 He was a professor at the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt, which began his formal
association with the Frankfurt school of critical thought.
 He also worked as the director of the Max Planck institute

There have been two phases of capitalism- liberal capitalism and organised capitalism. Each phase is
defined by the change in relationship between capitalism and the State.

Liberal Capitalism:
 Habermas claims that the combination of ideals of Enlightenment, the transformation of
government from feudal to nation-State and the rise of capitalism- created something that had
never before existed.
 Enlightenment: It was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world
of ideas in Europe during the 18th century
 Transformation of Government: In the 17th and 18th century, the primary form of government
in Europe was feudalism, which was based on land tenure and personal relationships. The
relationship that people had with land, clearly divided them into peasants and royalty. The
everyday person during the feudal age was keenly aware of his obligations towards the lord of
the land. People under feudalism were subjects of the monarchy, not citizens.
 Capitalism: With the emergence of Protestantism (ref. ideas of Max Weber regarding
Calvinism and individual wok ethic) and industrial revolution (which resulted in exploitation
of labour- surplus value etc.), capitalism began to emerge.
 With the emergence of capitalism, nation-State also became necessary to provide a uniform
monetary system and strong legal codes connected to private property (the relations to land
that exited during the feudal times were no longer in existence)
 Habermas argues that together, the nation-State and capitalism depoliticised class relations ad
proposed equality based on market competition. That is, class was no longer a political issue,
it was an economic one. Class was no longer in terms of personal relations or family
connections, but rather, in terms of the result of free market competition.
 This was because, under the nation-State, all the individuals were made citizens and were
given an equal status. Thus, any inequality that arose (leading to formation of class), could
only come because of the working of the market system. In this way, capitalism represents the
mechanism of equality i.e., where the best are defined through successful competition, rather
than family ties.
 Liberal capitalism therefore, brought a tremendous change to the lifeworld (or the world that
we live in) and it became a world defined by democratic freedoms and responsibilities.
 The public sphere is a space for democratic, public debate. Habermas sees the public sphere
as existing between a set of cultural institutions (on the one hand) and State power (on the
other). The function of the public sphere is to mediate the concerns of the private citizens with
that of the State interest.
 Under feudalism, the subjects could obviously complain about the monarchy and their way of
life. However, a debate about something that you have no control over, and a debate about
something in which one is expected to exercise active control are obviously very different.
 When citizens of Europe or America first got rights and civic duties, they indicated that this
citizenry would be informed and completely engaged in the democratic process
 **There are two features of this public sphere: Access to unlimited information and equal
participation

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  The public space thus consisted of cultural organisations (that help distribute this
information)- such as newspapers and blogs/journals + political and commercial organisations
(that facilitate this debate)- such as political clubs, public assemblies and even coffee shops
 People believed that rational discourse (or debates, speeches etc.) would lead to decisions
made by reason and guided by egalitarianism
 During this time, the government followed the laissez-faire approach with regards to the
market. It was believed that the individual would do the most good to the whole, if left to
his/her own devices. It was felt that the marketplace, in that case, has to be free (especially
from interference by the State) so that only the most successful would be able to rise to the
top.
 Under liberal capitalism, there was a hope of modernity, because humankind had just been set
free from the bonds of feudalism and it was said that each individual would stand or fall based
on his own efforts alone. These efforts were not only supposed to be directed towards a better
economy, but also towards fuller participation in the process of democracy. Further, the
individual was also expected to direct their focus towards a better education- and this
education came from the public sphere also

Organised Capitalism:
 Two economic issues that arose during the period of liberal capitalism changed the
relationship between the State and the market.
A. Tendency to create monopolies: Rather than producing equal competitors on an even playing
field, free markets tend to create monopolies. Thus, by the end of the 19th century, the entire
economy of the USA was being run by a group of persons known as the ‘robber barons.’ The
general attitude of such tycoons was- “public be damned.” These monopolies just didn’t extend
to the sale of the goods alone, but also applied to the vertical integration of these goods,
meaning that the processes before and after these goods entered the market were also controlled
by these monopolies (e.g. The company- Standard oil, owned wells and refineries and also, the
railroad system that moved this product into the market in the first place). The US government
in response to widespread monopolisation, interfered and passed antitrust laws (generally to
promote fair competition for the benefit of consumers)

B. Economic Fluctuations: As Karl Marx has indicated, capitalist economies are subject to periodic
oscillations. Keynes further built on Marx’s theories and highlighted that capitalism tended
towards overproduction- meaning that there was more supply than demand in the economy at
any given point of time. The business cycle refers to a series of economic expansions or
contractions (bear and bull periods). Keynes argued that government intervention in the
economy would reduce the magnitude of the business cycle, so that even though the period of
bull may not be that high, even the period of bear will not be too low and the world will be
saved from another depression in the economy, such as the one that took place in 1930. After
World War II, Keynes’s ideas were generally accepted. The government expanded control of
capitalism and increased spending in order to keep the demand up.

 Organised capitalism therefore, is a kind of capitalism where the economic practices are
controlled, governed and organised by the State. According to Habermas, this change from
liberal capitalism to organised capitalism have had three major effects:

Firstly, legitimation crisis

Secondly, colonisation of the lifeworld
Thirdly, colonisation of the public sphere

Legitimation Crisis:
 Legitimation means; to declare lawful. Legitimacy converts power into authority and gives
their orders the backing of law (thus, people will be compelled to abide by it)

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  In the case of liberal capitalism also, the market underwent several crisis and these were
known as economic crisis. However, in the case of organised capitalism, it so happened that
the economy is managed by the State to one degree or the other. Further, there is more and
more pressure by the citizenry on the government, for them to prevent the exploitation of the
common man by the market. Thus, the government also interferes in activities of the market.
When there is an economic crisis however, what happens is that it’s a crisis for the State and
not just for the economy.
 The State is attempting to organise capitalism by using scientific principles and technical
control. However, when it fails in say, properly determining the amount of production that has
to be done by the market in order to meet the demands of the people, there is a crisis that
occurs.
 This creates disenchantment in the minds of the people about the ability of the government to
take proper decisions. For the survival of the regime the government must take action
motivating actions and when there is an absence of requisite quantity of the motivation,
actions (by the citizenry) do not come forth and crises emerge. All these create crises for
legitimacy.

Colonisation of the Lifeworld:

 In this lifeworld, people were expected to actively be part of the democratic government.
However, the general malaise that grows out of the Legitimation crisis reduces the people’s
motivation and the meaning that they attach to social life.
 Colonisation of the lifeworld or the everyday life is taking place due to the economic and
political systems.
 With progress, the society becomes more complex and technical. One of the problems that
come from this (for the government) is that these institutions become more difficult to
coordinate and control. Habermas refers to this as steering.
 Every social institution has different values, roles, statuses and mediums. Medium refers to
“something by which something is accomplished, conveyed or carried on.” For example: The
medium of communication is language. The medium of education is knowledge. The medium
of government is power. The government and the educational institutes are able to perform
their function via these mediums respectively.
 The problem that arises in steering is that there is no medium that is abstract enough to be
used between all these institutions, as a means of exchange. We must think of this as
boundary crossings.
 Habermas was specifically concerned with the boundaries between lifeworld and State +
lifeworld and economy. How does the economy induce you to leave the comfort of your
lifeworld? Through money (i.e., you might say you go to work because you want to buy a
home, a new car etc. but at the end of the day, it all boils down to money that you can buy
these goods with). On a similar note, why does one leave the comfort of the lifeworld to go
into the fray of politics? For power.
 Habermas wants to argue however, that usually people create common media by face to face
communications and negotiation. In using money and power as media in areas of life that
include reproduction and socialisation- we are technisized as mutual understanding is replaced
by media.
 Habermas argues that there is something intrinsic about the lifeworld that cannot be reduced
to media, without sociopathological consequences. E.g., when two people have sexual
intercourse, it is considered to be lovemaking and is considered romantic, however- when
money is added to the equation it becomes prostitution and is not at all considered highly.
Habermas thus argues that imposing the media of power and money on the lifeworld, is
fundamentally changing it.
 He states that interactions and meanings occur when individuals consciously or unconsciously
negotiate meanings in face to face encounters. Negotiation has traditionally occurred chiefly
through speech (money and power as mediums are changing this).

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 Habermas argues that in the modern state, money and power act just like a colony as they
have imposed their media upon the lifeworld. In sociology, communicative action is
cooperative action undertaken by individuals based upon mutual deliberation and
argumentation. This communicative action has been colonised and this in turn, undermines
legitimacy.
 Previously, those areas of the society that were dominated by I & L media (according to
Talcott Parsons) - i.e., influence or value commitment, now are being dominated by A & G
media- money and power (votes). Rather than the people talking out their problems and
coming to a mutual understanding, one party is simply dominating the other with the
use of power or money.
 Habermas argues that four factors in organised capitalism, set the stage for colonisation of
lifeworld:
 Lifeworld is differentiated from the social systems: By the lifeworld Habermas means
the shared common understandings, including values that develop through face to
face contacts over time in various social groups, from families to communities.
However, with increase in complexity of the society, the lifeworld became decoupled
from the institutional spheres.
 The boundaries between lifeworld and various social systems began to be regulated
by roles: Previously, these roles (or scripts for behaviour) used to be regulated by
families, but nowadays they are being regulated by money and power. E.g.
previously, the eldest male of the family would take all the important decisions in the
family. Now, these decisions might be taken by the richest member.
 Rewards for workers under organised capitalism, such as higher salaries and leisure
time, ensures that the bourgeoisie laws overtake that of the lifeworld because people
are willing to accept short term rewards in exchange for their long-term freedom
 State provides comprehensive welfare in the form of protection laws, social security
and so on, which make it seem to the citizens like as if they aren’t being exploited by
money or power. In protecting the capitalist system and its workers, the State
mitigates some of the issues that would have lead to conflict and thus, change. The
citizen begins to feel more entitled as a consumer or a client, more than they do as a
democratic citizen.

 There are two different types of rationalities- instrumental rationality and value rationality.
Instrumental rationality refers to behaviour that is purely calculated by means and ends.
Whereas, value rational behaviour is behaviour motivated by our values or morals. E.g. if you
were sure that you wouldn’t get caught cheating on a test, so you simply gave your paper to
someone else to write, that would be instrumentality. However, if you wouldn’t cheat on a
test despite the promise of no external sanctions, it would be value rationality.
 Value rationality is specific to the lifeworld and instrumental rationality is specific to the
State and economy. Thus, when the lifeworld is colonised, the value rationality is being
emptied and there is an intrusion of instrumental rationality. Money and power are seen as the
principle means of success and happiness. Money is being used to purchase commodities that
we think will impress other people. Rather than earning respect through our humanistic
values, we are demanding it with money or power.
 Using money or power as steering media in the lifeworld is antithetic to open communication
and consensus building. Since the lifeworld is no longer built on communication or
understanding, the citizens lose their sense of responsibility to democracy and Enlightenment.
 Habermas’s central premise: only at the lifeworld level, in its media, can legitimacy be
regenerated. The systems media are always parasitic on the lifeworld. The crisis is that the
parasites are destroying their host: that’s what colonization is. The more the systems media
colonize the lifeworld, the more they lose legitimacy and crisis ensues. Material reproduction
(system level) is crucial for society, but when it destroys symbolic reproduction (lifeworld
level); it undercuts itself.

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  E.g. Because the medical industry is now being purchased by third parties who have stake in
it, and every treatment is being looked at by it value (in terms of money), people are
beginning to prefer alternative systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Homeopathy etc.
which they find more legitimate.

Colonisation of the Public Sphere:

 The most immediate place for involvement of the citizens in the process of democracy is the
public sphere. In that space between power and free information, the citizens must engage in
the process of consensus formation.
 However, in the 20th century, places of active public debate have become places that are
measured through polls and influences by media of entertainment.
 Public opinion has become something that is now, manufactured through social science and
statistics. Politicians have ensured that the opinions of the citizens have been reduced to a
mere poll, so that these opinions become easier for them to control.
 Further, the free sources of information that is supposed to supply the citizenry with
knowledge regarding democracy is no longer operating with the aim of giving the people
information, but now has the aim of profit-making in mind. Thus, important information is
being packaged in entertainment. It has become so, that the viewers are more interested in
some scandalous affair, rather than the process of today’s democracy which directly affects
us.

Critical Theory:
 According to Habermas, there are three kinds of knowledge and interests:
 Analytical knowledge: Interested in the technical control of the environment
 Critical knowledge: Interested in emancipation
 Interpretive knowledge: In understanding human understanding and cooperation
 Since society is taken as is by sociologists (i.e., they do not question if the society should be
this way in the first place etc.) Instead, they look at why the society is this was and they try to
describe the existing political situations’
 Sociologists are quick to put themselves fully within the economic and political framework of
modernity, and then call themselves objective. Human beings, as compared to the objects
being studied by other sciences e.g. trees or physical phenomenon, are very subjectively
oriented
 Thus, we cannot stand outside the society and create objective knowledge of the same. In
doing so, we are ignoring the most important question: what are the values that should guide
us?
 Critical theory on the other hand places itself purposefully in the midst of the society and
studies it. Instead of having the goal of objectivity in mind, it has the goal of improving
democracy. Thus, sociology is seen as a way to further the democratic project and to explore
the political values that are expressed in our knowledge and speech (in daily life)

Hope of speech communities:

 Communicative action v. Strategic speech

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