analysis of public sphere and experience
TRANSCRIPT
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The
Proletarian
ublic
Sphere
nd
Political
Organization:
An
Analysis
f
Oskar
Negt
and
Alexander
Kluge'sThe Public
Sphere
nd
Experience
by
Eberhard
Kn6dler-Bunte
1.
The
Proletarian ublic
Sphere
Oskar
Negt
and
Alexander
Kluge's
The
Public
Sphere
and
Experience
attempts
o
provide
conceptual
framework or the central
political
and
theoretical roblems onfrontinghe contemporaryituation.The trans-
formation
f the
capitalist
roduction
rocess,
with
ts
far-reachingmpli-
cationsthat
penetrate
o the mostbasic levelsof human
experience,
annot
be
adequately
understood nd acted
upon
witha
conceptual
and
political
frameworknherited rom n earlier
stage
of
historical
development,
r
from circumstances
undamentally
ifferent rom those
of
advanced
capitalist
society.
The
inability
f the
categories
derived
from
previous
political
formulationsnd debates to
grasp
the
contemporary
ituation s
part
of
the
continuing
risis f Marxism hat has
persisted
ince the
1920s
and 1930s.With their ookNegtand Klugeattempt o laythegroundwork
for
an
analysis
hat will break
this
mpasse.
Negt
and
Kluge's
contribution as
been
to
develop
a middle evel
theory
whichconfrontshe
qualitative
ransformationf
capitalist
ocial
relation-
ships
from oth the
standpoint
f new forms f
production
s well
as from
the
tandpoint
f
changes
n
everydayxperience
n
society.
n
this
way
they
provide
framework
hat
historicizesnd
defines
reviously
ndeterminate
notions uch as consciousness nd
subjective
actor,
while
at
the same
time
nalyzing
he transformationf the
capitalist roductive
rocess
nd its
impact
on concretehuman
experience
nd
psychic
tructure.
he central
category
f
Negt
and
Kluge's
work s the
public
sphere
which
organizes
human
experience,
mediating
between the
changing
formsof
capitalist
production
on
the
one hand and
the
cultural
organization
of
human
experience
on the other.
Differentiating
etween the
bourgeois public
sphere,
increasingly art
of the
capitalist productionprocess,
and the
concept
f a
proletarian
ublic
sphere,
Negt
and
Kluge
argue
that the atter
could
potentially ppose
the
organized
nterests f
the
bourgeois
public
sphere
through
ts
organization
of
human needs and
interests.
The
increasing
ultural ocialization
f
human
needs and
qualities
n
an
indus-
trializedpublic
sphere--for
xample the consciousness
industry--sets
n
motion
potential
pposition
which
under
xisting
onditions
an
only
esist
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52
NEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
the
conditions
f
alienated
production
y
remaining
n the realm
of
fantasy
and imagination.As such,thisopposition an still become the object of
production.
ut the
development
f
these
new
needs,
which
because of
their
specifically
uman
quality
oppose
the
discipline
nd abstract
haracter
f
the
capitalist
production
process,
provides
the basis
for the
potential
emergence
f a
proletarian
ublic
sphere
which
organizes
eal needs into
politically
elevant orms f
consciousness
nd
activity.
At the
same
time,
Negt
and
Kluge investigate
he new forms f the
public
sphere,
bove
all
television nd other
mass media.
Their
analysis
f
these
new
developments
and
possibilities
or
potential
hallenge
o the
content f
existing
media is
a
significantspect
of their
work.
Negt
and
Kluge's
examination
of
these
issues
and
this
complex
of
problems
cuts across
both
scholarly
and
political approaches.
The
sociological
formulation f
specific uestions
bout
public
opinion,
mass
communications
nd
the traditional
rameworkf
political
cience s
linked
to
questions
bout
political
practice.
On
the other hand
these
political
questions--the
Marxist
oncepts
f class
consciousness,
lass
movements
nd
social
organization--are
ied to
theoretical
evelopments
n
the
academic
world.
Negt
and
Kluge's
book thus ttacks he fatal
division f
labor
which
separatesnarrowlypecialized
cademic
investigation
rom
revolutionary
political
theory
irected owards
raxis.
Moreover,
Negt
and
Kluge's
book
opposes
the internal
fragmentation
f
concepts
n
both
academic and
revolutionary
heory.
A
critique
of The
Public
Sphere
and
Experience
must
therefore
egin
with
he deas and
intentionsf the
authors efore t can
move
to
individual
points.
This
essay
s
primarily
oncernedwith the
former
ask.
Instead of
attempting
n
extensive
ritique
f
the ndividual
ategories
mployed,
r
of
the
interpretations
f social
developments
nd
processes,
his
discussion
focuses n
the framework
hich
hey
evelop.
t
should,
s a
reader's
uide
help clarify he political and praxis-orientedspects of the problems
discussed. hus
this rticle s
imited o
clarifyingoints
aised
by
Negt
and
Kluge.1
1.
Parts
of
this
ssay
were
presented
t a
discussion
f
Negt
and
Kluge's
book
sponsored y
the
Institut
firKunst
und
Aesthetik,
t which
Oskar
Negt
spoke.
This
discussion,
which
primarily
oncerned
uestions
bout
the
block
of
real
life,
questions
f
organization,
nd
problems
f
political
ducation,
ppeared
in
the
ournal
Aesthetik
nd
Kommunikation,
2.
The
author
wishes
o thank
Silvia
Bevenschen,
eter
Gorsen
nd Heiner
Boehnckefor their
important
uggestions.
age
numbers
itedwithin
he
text efer o
Oskar
Negt
and
Alexander
Kluge, Oeffentlichkeitnd Erfahrung:Zur Organisationsanalyseon bfirgerlichernd
proletarischer
effentlichkeit
Frankfurt
m
Main,
1973).
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THE
PROLETARIAN
PUBLIC
SPHERE
AND
POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION
53
2. The Public
Sphere
and
Experience
s
Categories
f
Social
Theory
and
Political
Organization
The
very uxtaposition
f the
concepts public sphere
nd
experience
suggests
hat an
important
ocial
relationship
s
considered
here in
a
way
that
goes
far
beyond
the limitations
of
studies
dealing
only
with
constitutional
aw,
political
cienceor
social
history.
t
the same
time the
authors'
method
annotbe reducedto the
evel
of
discussions f
the
public
sphere
nd
public
opinion
carried
on
in
mass
communication
heory
nd
public
opinion sampling
ince
the
early
1930s
These
specialized
areas
of
research re
mostly
oncernedwith
the
investigation
f
full-blown
nsti-
tutionalized
ormsof
the
bourgeois public sphere
and
with theoretical
questionsbout thefunctionfpublic opinion na democracy.nsteadNegt
and
Kluge
attempt
o define he
public sphere
s
a
category
elating
o the
totality
f
society.
hey emphasize
hat
he
public sphere
an
be
understood
as
organizing
uman
experience,
nd not
merely
s thisor that
historically
institutionalized
anifestation.
hey
conceive of the
public sphere
as a
historically
eveloping
form
of
the mediation
between the
cultural
organization
f human
qualities
nd
senses n
the
one hand
and
developing
capitalist
production
n
the other.
Negt
and
Kluge
write n
explicit pposition
o
Jtirgen
abermas,
whose
StructuralTransformationf the Public Spherewas widelyread at the
beginning
f
the
protest
movement
n
Germany.
heir
specific
differences
with
Habermas
can be
seen on
three
evels. From the
outset
Habermas
restricts
imself
o
the
analysis
f
the
bourgeois ublic sphere,
opposed
to
which
proletarian
ublic sphere
ppears
merely
s
a
repressed
ariant f
a
plebeian
public sphere.
Negt
and
Kluge's political
nterest
s
directed
toward
the
interconnections
f
the
bourgeois-capitalist
nd
proletarian
public
spheres.
New
structural haracteristics
f the
public
sphere
thus
become
visible
ermitting
oth a historical
nd a
systematic
nvestigation
f
non-bourgeois, re-capitalist, roletarian,subculturaland even fascist
public
spheres.
At the
same
time,
Negt
and
Kluge's
approach
also
serves o
prevent
confusion
etween
he deal
of
the
bourgeois
ublic
sphere-the
basis
for
ts
historical
claim
to
legitimacy--and
he
actual
process by
which the
bourgeois public sphere
became
established
as
an
instrument
f
class
domination.
Habermas,
of
course,
lso
recognizes
he
contradictory ays
n
which
his
iberal
model of
the
public sphere
has
in
fact
manifestedtself n
history.
ut
the imitations
f his
approach
prevent
im from
rriving
t a
2.
Jikrgen
abermas,
Strukturwandel
er
Oeffentlichkeit
Neuwied
and Berlin,
1962),
p.
8
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54
NEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
conceptual
differentiation
etween he ideal and
the real
history
f
the
bourgeois
ublic
sphere.
Nor
s
Habermas ble
to
tracethis
distinction
ack
tothestructural eaknessesf thesociety.BecauseHabermasoverestimates
the
normative
trength
f the
bourgeois
public sphere,
he
is
led,
in
his
political
onclusions,
o
apply
the
principles
f the
earlier
bourgeois
ublic
sphere,
f
n
altered
form,
o
late
capitalist
onditions.
n the one
hand his
work
reconstructs
he
disintegration
f
the
bourgeois
public sphere
which
had
allowed
it
to
become both
an
object
of
manipulation
by
privileged
groups
and
an
object
of the
profit-maximizing
rocess.
Since the
public
sphere
an
no
longer
maintainthat t
is
linked to
a
politically ignificant
process
of
opinion
formation,
abermas,
referring
o this
disintegration,
speaksof a refeudalizationfthepublicsphere. Yet on the otherhand,
Habermas'
concept
f the social
welfare tate
mass
democracy
llowshim
to discover new
basis
for
the
bourgeois
public sphere,
lbeit
an altered
one. The
bourgeois
ublic phere
s thus
a
rational
eorganization
f
social
and
political
power
under the
mutual control of
rival
organizations
committed
o
the
public sphere
n
their
nternal tructure
s
well
as
in
their
relationswith the
state and each other. 3
This
pluralistic
model of
the
welfare
tate
regulating
tself
hrough
he
public sphere
can
only
be
maintained
at
the
cost
of
concealing
the
fundamentalontradictionsfcapitalist roductionnd transforminghem
into
crisesof
legitimacy.
hese
crisesmanifest
hemselves
n
state
activity
and
in
problems
of
securing
the
loyalty
f the
masses. In
contrast
o
Habermas'
conception,
Negt
and
Kluge
place
the
function
f
the
public
sphere,
which s
altered
n
the
interests
f
the
maximization
f
profit,
nto
the
context f
a
Marxist
nalysis
f
society.
Negt
and
Kluge's
tarting oint,
therefore,
s
the
relationship
etween
he
various
orms
f
the
public
sphere
and human
experience
nd
interests
oncretely
ied to the
social
praxis
of
everyday
ife.
These
experiences
re
stylized
y
Habermas as
mere
opinions
(cultural assumptions,normative attitudes, collective prejudices and
values),
as
a
kind f
sediment
f
history,
hich
he
believes
an be
neatly
separated
from
he
bourgeois
ublic
sphere.By
expanding
heir
onception
of
the
public
phere
o
includethe class
basis
n
which
xperience
s
molded
and
appropriated,Negt
and
Kluge
refuse
o
permit
he
reduction f
their
investigation
o mere
institutional
r
intellectual
history.
hey
therefore
argue
for
he
restorationf
an
interrupted
radition f
Marxist
nvestigation,
a
tradition
est
exemplified
y
Rosa
Luxemburg,
Wilhelm
Reich
and
Karl
3.
See
JUirgen
abermas,
The
Public
Sphere:
An
Encyclopedia
Article
1964),
New
German
Critique,1:3 (Fall, 1974), 55.4.
Ibid.,
p.
50.
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THE
PROLETARIAN
PUBLIC
SPHERE
AND
POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION
55
Korsch,
as well as
by
the Marxist
lements
f
critical
theory.5
In
this
sense,
the term
public sphere
refers
not
only
to the
publicinstitutionshichhave
prevailed
n
history
ut to the
general
horizon f
ocial
experience
whichenables individuals
o
formulate
nterpretations
f
social
reality.
xpanding
he
concept
public
phere
eyond
he
meaning
scribed
to
it
by
individual
disciplines
r
by
its
bourgeois
ontent,
Negt
and
Kluge
define
he
public
sphere
s the central lement
n the
organization f
human
experience.6
et underconditions
f
bourgeois
lass domination he
public
sphere
develops
n restrictivend
contradictory ays:
as a result
of the
excluding
mechanisms
f
the
bourgeoispublic sphere,
r
through
ew and
illusory
orms
f
organization
f
the
public sphere.
These forms f
organi-
zationarisefrom he
expansion
of the
capitalistprofit-maximizing
nterest
into
the area
of
human
needs and consciousness.
The
proletarian
public
sphere
stands in
polar
opposition
both to
the
bourgeoispublic sphere
and
to its transformation
nto
new forms
the
public
spheres
f
production ).
t
represents
he historical
ounter-concept
to
the
bourgeoispublic sphere
and
a
fundamentally
ew structuren
the
public
organization
f
experience.
Untilnow forms f the
proletarian
ublic
sphere
have
emerged
only
in
rudimentary
orm,
and
only
in
isolated
instances
ave
they
prevailed
s
an alternative
gainst
bourgeois-capitalist
domination.
Among
the examplesNegt and Kluge cite are the attempts
made
by
the
English working
lass in the
early
19th
century
o
form
independent
ommunication
media
(pp.
313-333);
Lenin's
concept
of
the
self-expression
f the masses as
opposed
to
party
propaganda;
and
the
5.
For
urther
iscussionf his
raditionn
Marxist
heory
eethe
ollowing
orks
y
Oskar
Negt:
Oskar
Negt,
Theorie,
mpirie
nd
Klassenkampf:
ur
Konstitutionsproblematik
ei
Karl
Korsch,
eberKarl
Korsch,
d.
Claudio
Pozzoli
Frankfurt
m
Main,
1973);
Oskar
Negt,
Massenmedien:
errschaftsmittel
der
Instrumente
er
Befreiung?
spekte
er
Kommunikationsanalyse
er
Frankfurter
chule,
Kritische
ommunikationsforschung:Aufsatzeus derZeitschriftir Sozialforschung,d. DieterProkopMunich, 973); Oskar
Negt,
Rosa
Luxemburg:
ur
materialistischen
ialektikon
Spontaneitat
nd
Organisation,
Rosa
Luxemburg
der
Die
Bestimmung
es
Sozialismus,
d.
Claudio
Pozzoli
Frankfurt
m
Main,
1974).
6.
Borrowing
he
notion f
the
rganization
f
human
xperience
rom
he
arly
oviet
cultural
heoreticians
See
Peter
Gorsen
nd
Eberhard
nbdler-Bunte,
roletkult,
Vols.
(Stuttgart,
974)
,
while
pposing
he
eified
oncept
f
rganization,
egt
nd
Kluge
ttempt
todetermine
he
rganizing
unctionf
ultural
bjectifications
nd
formsf
communications.
This
expansion
f
the
concept
f
organization,
hich
traditionally
ndicated
nly
the
combination f
human
eings
groups,
ssociations,
arties,
nions)
makes t
possible
o
investigate
he
ctive nd
mediating
unctionf
cultural
elationships
n
ndividual
xperience
and
perception.
n
strict
pposition
o
a
technocratic
oncept
f
organization,
he
oncept
f
an organizationied to theproletarianublicspherendicates concrete ialectic f
spontaneity
nd
organization,
f
mmediate
xperience
nd
insight
nto
he
ocial
otality.
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56
VEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
tentative
teps
aken n France n
May
1968.
Eds.]
Nevertheless,he
specific
achievement
f
the
proletarian
ublic sphere
s
to
provide
he
foundation
for he
potential
ormationf classconsciousnesss a
partisan
onsciousness
of
totality
nriched
by
substantive
ital
nterests.
In
this
ontext
he
proletarian
ublic
sphere
an
bestbe
understood s
a
necessary
orm
f
mediation,
s
the
center f
a
production
rocess
n
the
course
of
which
the
varied and
fragmented
experiences
of
social
contradictions
nd
social
interests
an be
combined
nto
a
theoretically
mediated
consciousness
nd
life
style
directed
towards
a
transforming
praxis
Thus,
the
concept
f the
proletarian
ublic
sphere
designates
he
contradictory
nd
non-linear
process
of
development
towards
class
consciousness: processwhich t presents eitherhiddenbehinda
merely
programmatic
nity
f
the
political
and
economic
concept
of
class and
its
subjective
orrelate
onsciousness,
ombirredo form
lass
consciousness,
r
is
simply
elivered o
the
proletarian
arty
n
its
synthesizing
apacity.
The
classical
bourgeois
public
sphere
was
an unstable
complex
of
institutions,
organizations
nd
activities
within
which the
social
process
of
opinion
formation
as to be
constituted,
ut
from
which he
most
mportant
spects
of
life--material
roduction
nd the
realm of
familial
socialization--were
excluded. In
contrast,
hree
very
ifferent
actors
must
converge
o
create
theproletarian ublicsphere: the nterest ftheproducing lassmustbe
the
driving
orce;
a form
f
interaction
mustbe
created
which
can
relate
specific
nterests
n
the
realms of
production
o
the
entire
society;
and
finally
the
inhibiting
nd
destructive
nfluences
emanating
from
the
declining
bourgeois
public
sphere
must
not
overpower
the
emerging
proletarian
ublic
sphere.
n
all
these
points,
he
proletarian
ublic
sphere
is
nothing
other
than the
form n
which
the
proletarian
nterest
tself
develops
p.
163).
At
this
point
he
mplications
f this
omprehensive
oncept
or
he
theory
ofrevolutionnd the theory f organization ecomeclear. Insofar s the
proletarian
ublic
sphere
represents
form
f
interaction
hich
expresses
the
vital
nterests
f the
working
lass n
a
specific
orm
while
relating
hem
to
the
entire
ociety,
t
assumesthe active function f
mediating
between
social
being
and
consciousness. n
short,
t
fulfills
he
task of
mediating
between
society
and
that
which
the
tradition of
Marxist
theory
has
designated--highly
nadequately--as
he
subjective
actor.'
This
point
will
be
returned
o
later.
Provisionally
ormulated,
he
public
sphere
should
be
understood
s
a
central ategoryfsocialtheory, hichdeterminesheconnection etween
material
production
nd
cultural
norms nd
institutions
uring
he
process
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THEPROLETARIAN UBLIC
SPHEREAND POLITICALORGANIZATION
57
of the
constitution
f
social
experience.
At the
same
time
Negt
and
Kluge
attemptosituate heconcept fthe public sphere historicallyn order o
allow
the reformulation
f
a
central
problem
of
the Marxist
theory
of
revolution o
emerge
from
he dialectic of
the
bourgeois
nd
proletarian
public sphere.
Thus,
it is
necessary
for them to
introduce
new
epistemological
ategories
nd
relationships,
onstructing,
or
example,
the
levels
of
contradiction
within the
basic
conditions of
bourgeois
and
proletarian
ife
the
block of
real life which
opposes
the nterests
f
profit
maximization).
uch
categories ermit
he
expansion
f
an
analysis
f
late
capitalist
onditions
o
the
point
where
ertain
olitical onsequences
or he
organizational uestioncan be drawn.
The
concept
of
the
public sphere
is
essentially
ynthetic
n
its
achievement: its
application
makes
it
possible
to
move
beyond
the
theoretical
nd
historical-empirical
onstraints
n
the discussion
f
class
consciousness
nd
political
organization,
nd to reintroduce
nalytical
content nto that discussion.
The
authors
maintain that the
levels of
mediation
within which
the
organization
of social
consciousness
nd
experience
akes
place
can
be
empirically
scertained
yexamining
oth the
total
development
f
society
nd
occasional
ruptions
uch
as
strikes,
actory
occupations nd massprotest, s
well as
politicalorganization
n
factories,
schools
and
local
communities.
This framework
s
as
relevant
or he
development
f Marxist
heory
s
it
is
provocative
or
current
olitical
discussions.
Negt
and
Kluge
justify
he
claims
of so broad a
concept
f the
public sphere,
not
onlyby
appealing
to
the
necessity
or a Marxist
nvestigation
f the
unfolding elationships
f
cultural
ocialization
Vergesellschaftung).
hey
also
argue
for
the
political
urgency
f such a
conception.
With
this
book
it
is our
political
nterest o
establish
framework
or discussion
hich
xpands
he
analytical oncepts
of
political conomy
ownward,
o thereal
experience
f human
beings p.
16).
By
directly
onfronting
he
critique
f
political
conomy
with he
concept
of real
experience,
Negt
and
Kluge
address
complex
f
problems
which
the
labor
movement as
been
incapable
of
solving
ither
theoretically
r
practically.
or Marx
and
Engels
t was
not,
for wo
reasons,
pressing
ask
to
develop
a detailed
discussion
of class
consciousness
nd
political
organization.
On
the
one
hand,
their
theoretical
considerations
were
directed
at a
working
class
that
was
rapidly
organizing,
and
whose
organizational
olidity
nd
political
efficacy
was
less a
question
of the
subjective
onditionsf
organization
hanof themoreprimary roblem fa
scientific
nalysis
f the aws
of
capitalist
evelopment.
econdly,
Marx
and
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58
NEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
Engels
could
assume
that the
working
lass
emerged
from
bourgeoisie
whichhad carriedthroughts nterestsgainstthe feudalsystemnd had
maintained
a
revolutionary
ovement
which
still,
t
appeared,
could
be
transformed
nto
a
proletarian
movement.
The
experience
of
the
Paris
Commune
made
it
clear,
however,
that the
relevant
elements of
the
bourgeois
lass had
reorganized
round the
nterestsf
profit
maximization
and
had
joined
in
an
alliance
with
he feudal
system.
imultaneously
ther
broad
strata
f the
bourgeoisie
were
already
proletarianized
r
had sunk
to
the status of
small
commodity
roducers.
What
had
remained
oncealed
by
the
revisionist
ractice
of
the
Second
International, atisfiedwithits successas a mass movement, ecame a
matter
of
immediate
concern
only
with
the
revolutionary
ole
of
the
bolshevist
adre
party
n
the
Russian
Revolution:
the
problem
of
the
conscious
organization
of
proletarian
class
interests n
a
disciplined
vanguard
party.
The
wide
adoption
of
the
bolshevist
xperience
n
the
European
abor
movement
fter he
uccessful
ctober
revolution
ed
less to
the
integration
f
these
experiences
nto theirown
traditions-
eveloped
under
the
completely
ifferent
onditions
f
a
highly
eveloped
ndustrial
society--than
o
the
politically
consequential
universalization
f
the
Leninist
Cadre
Party
derived
rom
he
Russian
revolutionary ovement.The
direct
application
of
Russian
experiences
o the
developed
social
conditions f
Western
Europe,
which
was intendedas a
break
with
the
objectivist
nd
economist
conceptions
f
the
Second
International,
ed
politically
o
the
dissolution f
the
relationship
etween
he
organizational
forms
ased
on
the
workers'
ouncils nd
the
Communist
arty,
esulting
n
the one-sided
rimacy
f
the
centralized
rganization.
heoretically
t led
to
a division f
the
subjective
actor
nd of
class
consciousness
nto
political
and
economic
elements:
the
class
analysis
f
the
proletariat
was
collapsed
into
theoretical
ssues f
party
nd
organization
hich
entered
round
the
struggle orpolitical
power.
Only
with he
protest
movement
hich
ppeared
at
the end
of
the
1960s
did
those
ssues,
which
Marxism
ad
either
enigrated
r
dismissed
s
heresy
and
relegated
o the
periphery,
eemerge
s
central
problems
n
the
face
of
a
system
hat seemed
immune
to
internal
nd
external
opposition.
The
renewed
iscussion
f
the works
f
Reich,
Luxemburg,
ukics,
Korsch
nd
others,
s
well
as
the
numerous
debates on
Marxism
nd
psychoanalysis,
class
consciousness,
he
latent
fascist
endencies n
late
capitalism,
media
theory
nd
aesthetics
oincided
with
experimental
ormsof
action
and
demonstration.tthesametimethesedevelopmentsxpressed sharpened
consciousness f
new
complexes
of
contradictions
hich
the
traditional
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60
NEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
(ProduktionsOffentlichkeiten)
hich
to
an
increasing
xtent urn the
basic
conditionsfhuman ife tselfnto heobjectofproductionButat thesame
time
a
potential
opposition
s
released
which,
in
pnnciple
could
be
channeled
nto new
forms
f the
proletarian ublic
sphere.
2)
According
to
the
authors these
contradictory
endencies
f
cultural
socialization an
be
understood
y
postulating
block
of
real
life,
which
indicates crisis
n
human
psychic rganization.
his crisis s
intensified
y
3)
the
expanded
forms f
secondary
xploitation
hich
re made
possible
by
the
development
f
commodity
roduction
nd modern
mass media.
The
accompanying
ndustrial ransformationf
human enses
nd
characteristics
4) alters the veryformswithinwhichthe fragmentedlementsof social
experience
are
capable
of
being
organized
for socialism.
Hence
a
reformulation
f the
question
of
organization
ecomes
necessary.
n
their
politicalpraxis
ocialist
rganizations
an
no
longer
ustain he fiction
hat
the
individual
proletarian
s
organizable
as
a
whole,
over
and
above
particular
nterests.
nstead,
he
pre-revolutionarytrategy
must
be to
seize
potentialopposition
n
whatever
rea
of
human life it
may
appear:
in
factories,
n and
through
he mass
media,
in educational
nstitutions,
n
the
family
nd in the so-called realm of
leisure.
3.
The
Basic Conditions f Life
as
Objects
of
Production
Negt
and
Kluge place
the
dialectic
of
the
bourgeois
and
proletarian
public
spheres
n
the
context
of an
all-encompassing rocess
of human
socialization
which ecame universal
ith he
capitalist
mode of
production.
Only
withthe transition
o
capitalism
oes
the
production
rocess
become
the
dominant
social
relationshippervading
all
areas
of
human
life.
Pre-capitalist
orms f
production,
hichMarx
could
still ubsume
nder
he
general
oncept
f
human
ppropriation
f
nature,
were haracterized
y
the
continual
retreat
f
natural
restrictions
n the
one
hand and
by
the
anchoring
f the abor
process
n
regionally
ifferentiated
ultural,
amilial
and
political
elationships
n the other.
But the abor
process
ua
capitalist
production
rocess
arns
ts
new
quality
because
of the
separation
etween
economic
rofit-maximizing
nterests.
he
public
spheres
f
production
re
distinguished
rom
the
bourgeois
ublic
sphere
hrough
heir ndustrialmode
of
production
nd the
expansion
f
their
cope
to the
basic conditions f human
ife.The centralmoment f these
ublic pheres
f
production
s
previously
rivate
sensuality.
n the
public
sphere
this
sensuality
has
been
combined
with
profit-maximizing
nterests. here
are,
according
o
Negt
and
Kluge
broadl-
speaking,
hreedimensions o the
public
spheres
f
production:
1)
the
sensual-demonstrative
public spheres f factories, anks,urban centers nd industrial ones; 2) the
consciousness
industry,
ncluding
consumption
nd
advertising
nd
3)
public
relations carried on
by
corporations,
ssociations,
tates nd
parties
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THE PROLETARIAN
PUBLIC SPHERE
AND POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION
61
these
norganic
onditions f human existence nd this active
existence,
separationwhich scompletelyosited nly ntherelation fwage abor and
capital. 9
Capitalist
ocial relations
plit
sunder he naturalbonds of
humanity,
as
Marx
explains
t one
point,by
their
endency
o
subsume
ll
historically
developed
cultural
forms
of human
life
under
their
mmanent
ogic
in
accordance
with the
process
of
profit
maximization.
On the
part
of
the
subject,
hisdenial
of
the
social characteristics
f
humanity orresponds
o
the
reduction
f
the laborer to
an
existence
primarily
s a
producer
of
exchange
value.
The
separation
f
workers rom
he means of
production,
whichMarxhistoricallyursues s theprocessof primitiveccumulation,
also severs
heir bstract
abor
power
from he concrete
onditions
f their
existence:
everything
which does
not contribute
to the
immediate
reproduction
of
the
commodity
labor-power
becomes
something
superfluous,
omething
eemingly
rivate,
omething
egatively
etermined
by
the
relationship
which
capital
demands.
For
Negt
and
Kluge
this
transformation
s the
capitalist
cultural
revolution,
which
is
strictly
distinguished
rom he
proletarian
ultural
revolution-the
production
f
communist
orms
of
interaction.
The
development
f
capitalism
also
revolutionizedabits,culturalpatterns, ersonalitytructure,
he
senses,
human
characteristics
nd
consciousness.
he
entire
process
of economic
production
over
the
last
two
or
three
hundred
years
has
produced
increasingly
ocialized
human
beings.
Socialization
tself
has
become
a
fundamental
human
need,
almost
an
anthropological
ategory,
because
people
become
sick
when
they
re forced
o live in
isolation.
On the other
hand,
under
alienated
conditions
his
ocialization
s
always
ombined
with
a
simultaneous
eed to
freeoneself
rom t and
retreat
o
private
forms
f
existence
p.
271).
But now
the
relationship
f the
profit-maximizing
nterest
o
the
basic
conditions
f humanlife tself ecomes
subject
to historicalmodification.
Risingproduction
osts
of the
commodity
abor-power
nd
changes
n
the
organic
omposition
f
capital
turnhuman
needs
and forms
f
consciousness
themselves
nto
objects
of
capitalist
production:
the basic conditions
f
human
life
emerge
from heir
purely
negative
relationship
o
capital.
This
key
development
s the
starting oint
for
Negt
and
Kluge's
analysis.
Their
description
f
the
transformation
f
the
bourgeois
public
spheres
f
production
n the one
hand
and the
occasional
emergence
f
a
proletarian
9.
Karl
Marx,
Grundrisse:
Foundations
of
the
Critique
of
Political
Economy Rough
Draft),
trans.
Martin Nicolaus
(Middlesex,
1973),
p.
489.
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62
NEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
public sphere
on
the
other can
be understood
as
a
depiction
of
the
subjective cultural side of the reproduction f capital on an ever
increasing
cale.
The
bourgeois
ublic
sphere,
oth n its deal form
nd
in
its
material
ontent,
efers o
the
early
phase
of
capitalist
evelopment.
n
this
phase
the
newly
forming
apitalist
nterests
ere
primarily
oncerned
with
the
appropriation
f the
material
conditions
f
production,
hough
they
lso
waged
a
political
and cultural
truggle gainst
the feudal
system.
The
bourgeoisie
sed
the
public sphere
both as
a
revolutionary
logan
and
as
a medium within
which the
political struggle
for
the
expanded
appropriation
f social wealth ook
place.
This
convergence
f
substantially
divergentnterests, hich hebourgeois ublic spherehomogenizes,ndows
the
bourgeois ublic sphere
with
ts characteristic
nstability,
arking
t as
an
expression
f the transition
o
a new
world-historicalevel of
production.
The unstable
bourgeois
ublic sphere
can
only
ustain tself
n
society
o
the
extent hat t
succeeds
n
either
diverting
ttention
way
from
entral
interests
ied to the realm of
production
nd familial
ocialization
r in
giving
olitical
r cultural
xpression
o
those
nterests.
ut
the
political
nd
cultural
victory
f the
bourgeoisie
nd the
anchoring
f the
principles
f
capitalist roduction
n
broad
areas
of
the
society
made
a
continued
etour
through
nstitutionalizedorms f
the
public sphereunnecessary.
he
dull
compulsion
f
economic
elations
0
sustains
ourgeois
apitalist
omination
more
effectively
han
a
necessarily
nstable
public
consensus
r
political
forcecould ever do.
But this
process
lso
produces
hanges
n
the
tructure
nd
function f
the
public
sphere.
Once
the
capitalist
profit-maximizing
nterest ecomes
the
primary
rinciple
fsocial
organization,
t
produces
new
forms f the
public
sphere,
which
formally
ppear
to
continue he
bourgeois ublic
sphere
but
whose
haracteristics
re
actually
etermined
y
a
very
ifferent
omplex
f
interests.
The traditional
ublic
sphere,
whose
characteristic
eakness ies
in themechanism f
separating
ublic
from
rivate,
s
today
uperseded
y
public spheres
of
industrial
production
which
increasingly
raw in
the
private
ealms,
particularly
he
production
rocess
nd
the
basic conditions
of
life
(p.
35).
The
authors
consider a number
of
tendenciesto be
responsible
or the
emergence
f
these
new
public
spheres
f
production,
which,
taken
together,
haracterize
new level
of
socialization.
Negt
and
Kluge
do
not, however,
iscuss hese
endencies
ystematically;
nstead
hey
limit
themselves
o a
description
f their
ffects.
10.
Karl
Marx,
Capital
1
(New
York,
1906),
p.
809.
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64 NEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
capital
means that the
institution
tands
only
in
an
external,
loose
relationshipt.9 he apitalist roductionrocess,which n turn nlyndirectly
affects
he institution'snternal
workings.
The
term real
subsumption
becomes
applicable
to the
public sphere
only
when those realmshitherto
relatively
utonomous re
integrated
irectly
nto the
profit-maximizing
process
and
the
use
values,
informationnd
ideologyproduced
by
these
realms
re
employed pecifically
s a means of
stabilizing
he
ruling ystem
(p.
297).
This
general
description
f
the nature
of real
subsumption
equires
ome
qualification.
he
emergence
f mixedforms f
state
nd
private
conomic
activity
o
deal
with ases
n
whichthe ndividual
apitalist
ncurs
osts
for
taskswhich transcend he immediate nterestsf
profit
maximization s
a
fundamental haracteristic f late
capitalist
social
systems.
uch mixed
forms an neither
e
entirely
scribed o
the
ndividual
apitalist's
nterests,
nor
can
they
exist
entirely
outside of the
profit-maximizing
rocess.
Paradigmatic
for such
mixed forms are the
majority
of
educational
institutions
s
well as
government-regulated
adio
and television tations.
Yet the
empirically
emonstrable
mportance
f
thosemixedformsmakes t
questionable
whether
hey
can
be
adequately
explained
by
means
of a
heuristic evice
describing
he
transition
rom
ormal
o real
subsumption.The
analysis
f themixedforms hould itselfbe the central
object
of a
Marxist
heory
f the
tate
whichwould
explain
the
contradictory
endencies
produced
by
structuralharacteristicsf those
nstitutionso
longerdirectly
responsive
o
capitalist
nterests.t is a weakness f
Negt
and
Kluge's
book
that
the authors
onsider
he relevantworks f
Claus
Offe,
Joachim
Hirsch
and others
only
thematically
nd not
systematically.
The
organized
ransformation
f
commodities
nto
fantasy
alues
and the
institutionally
mediated
absorption
of
realms,
not
previously
directly
embraced
by
the
profit-maximizing
nterests,
re
characteristicf the
system
ofsecondaryxploitation. his system erivests new
quality
from hefact
that
it
is
no
longer
merely
an
extension of
traditional
realms
like
consumption
nd the
so-called
public
sector:
precisely
ecause
secondary
exploitationays
hold
of human
consciousness,
f human
wishes,
opes
and
conceptions,
close bond
reestablishes
tself
etween
rimary
nd
secondary
forms f
exploitation. econdary
xploitation
lso
existedwith
a
specific
functionn
the
classical
phase
of
capitalism.
But n
late
capitalism
econdary
exploitation
ssumes new
quality
based
on
the
fact that
a
certain
kind of
social
wealth
must be
produced
within
the
framework f
primary
exploitation, typeof social wealthwhich tself hreatens o oppose the
immediate
nterests f
capital
as
an
independent
orce.
This
new
level
of
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8/10/2019 Analysis of Public Sphere and Experience
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66
NEW
GERMAN
CRITIQUE
cannot
be diverted rom heir
goal.
Rather,
these human needs
preserve
within hemselves
realistic
nd unified
endency
owards heir
atisfaction.
It is
unlikely
hat in the
long
run
they
will be contentwithsubstitute
satisfactions
nd allow themselves
o
be
distracted rom heir wn realism
by
any
kind of
reality
rinciple
n their earch for
atisfying
elationships p.
304).
Of
course,
this
realism
characteristic f human needs
is itself
historically
roduced.
The historical
development
f this realistic
basis
coincides
with he
objective
ossibility
f their
ealization.At the same
time
it is the result f both an
expansion
nd
intensification
f
exploitation
nd
the
relaxation nd
undermining
f
disciplinary
ork
norms.
The twelve
our
day,
child
abor and the mmediate
emandsof
material
existence revent heveryformationf needswhich transcend he
simple
reproduction
of
the
commodity
abor-power.
The
development
of
individualneeds
presupposes high
degree
of social wealth
which relieves
individuals
from the immediate
pressures
of
existence
and allows the
emergence
f a formof
leisurewhich s more than a mere
reflex
of the
working
ay.
A
certain evelof
social
development
mustbe
presupposed
or
needs
to
emerge
which
point
beyond
the
existing
ramework f
material
production;
these needs
can,
obviously,
hemselves
ecome
objects
of
the
maximization f
capitalist rofit.
Expanded
commodity
roduction
nd the
public spheresof production epresent ew historic ormsof production
which absorb and
restructurehese needs
according
to
the
interests
f
capital.
These
apparatus
of
production
re
effective
is-d-vis
he
masses
precisely
ecause
they
do not
abstract
from
real
experiences
nd
wishes.
They
intervene
n the
level of concrete
nterests. n
the other
hand,
they
cannot
grasp
these
needs
in
their
pecific
determinate
ualities,
n their
uniqueness,
without
djusting
hem
o their wn
nterests
n
the
production
process.
This assimilation f
vital human
interests
nto the
content
f the
public sphere
of
production
auses
it,
because
of
its
content,
o
assume a
positioncontradictoryo the generaltendency f capital. This general
tendency,
n
the nterest f
an
expansion
f
profit
ealization,
moves n the
direction f
increasing
bstraction rom
oncrete
onditions.
At the
same
time
capital
must,
in
order
o
progress
long
this
path,
concern
tself
with
living
onditions,
iving
abor
and
human
raw
materials o
an
ever
ncreasing
degree.
Capitalism
must
dirty
ts
hands'
by
dealing
with
human
beings.
This
is the
reason
for
ts
extreme
nstability
p.
309).
Thus
capitalism
tself
ets in
motion a
countermovementf
concrete
interests.
y
developing articular
uman
qualities
n
isolation,
y
solating
themfrom ach other r evenbysuppressinghemaltogether,heinterests
of
capital
constitute
egatively
complex
of
qualities
and
interests
hich
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THE
PROLETARIAN
PUBLIC
SPHERE
AND
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
67
find
themselves n continual
retreat
from
profit-maximizing
endencies
which hreaten o absorb them. These qualities xistbeneaththethreshold
of
bourgeois
rule,
in
the form of
escapism
and
fantasy
ctivity,
which
capitalism
cannot
completely integrate
into
the
process
of
profit
maximization.
The
character
f this
fantasy ctivity
s
multi-dimensional.
It
emerges
s
a
necessary
ompensation
orthe
experience
f the alienated
labor
process,
as an
equilibrium
f drives
n
opposition
to
intolerable
conditions
f alienation
p.
67).
If
[the
workers'
eeds
and
interests]
re
directly
suppressed,
that
is,
if
they
are
not
utilized
in
society's
profit-maximizing
rocess,
hey
maintain
hemselves
s
living
abor
power,
as
raw
material.
n
this
quality
s extra-economic
nterests,hey
xist
n
the
forbidden zones of
fantasy,
beneath
taboos,
as
stereotypes
f the
rudimentary
rganization
f thebasic
conditions
f
proletarian
ife.
As such
they
annotbe
further
uppressed.
hey
also
cannot
be
assimilated.
n
this
respect
hey
possess
wo
characteristics:n
their
defensive tance over
and
against
society,
n
their
conservatism
nd
in their
ubcultural
haracter,
they
re mere
objects.
But at the same
time
they
omprise
he block of real
life
which
opposes
the
profit-maximizing
nterest
p.
107).
This
negative,
dialectical
relationship
f the block of real
life
to
the
profit-maximizing
process
will
continue s
long
as
capital
cannot
do
without
iving
abor
as
a
sourceof value. Where
attempts
re made to
integrate
his block into
capitalist
nterests,
or
xample,
by
subordinating
he
basic conditions
f
ife
to
the
capitalist
rogramming
nd consciousness
ndustry
r
the
new
public
spheres
f
production,
he
process
f
suppression
nd exclusion
produces
new,
more
differentiatedlock
accordingly
p.
107).
Television nd media concentration evertheless
epresent
new
stage
of
social
production
which
threatens
o
draw
in
the
very
raw
material
comprising
he
block
of
real
life.
The
degree
that this
s
successful
mustbe
determined
by
a
consideration f the
structure
f
production
of the
developedmedia.
5.
Television nd
Media
Concentration
The
investigation
f the
functional onnections
f
developed
mass media
assumes
n
important osition
n
Negt
and
Kluge's
discussion.
An
analysis
f
these
media must determine
whether ne
can
accurately
peak
of
a
new
quality
f
cultural ocialization. Such an
analysis
must
develop
criteria
y
means
of
which new
media
can be
differentiated
rom
those of the
traditional
ourgeois ublic sphere.
And at
the
same time
t
would have to
formulate plausible explanationof changes n the media's structure f
production
whichhave
allowed
the
media
to
take
on
these
new
functions.
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68
NEW GERMAN
CRITIQUE
a)
Government-regulated
elevision
Negt and Kluge describe government-regulatedelevision as an
institutionharacteristic
f a transitional
hase...,
in
whichthe essential
needs of communication
re no
longer
ntrusted
o an
exclusively
apitalist
mechanism,
ut
in
whicheffective
ew forms f
public
controldo not
yet
exist
(p.
217).
Television
is
situated
in
a
contradictory
ntermediate
position
etween he
bourgeois ublic
sphere
nd the
new
public spheres
f
production.
urthermore,
elevision
s
separated
from
he
bourgeois ublic
sphere
nd itsmedia
by
thetotal ndustrialization
f ts
production
tructure
and
by
ts
complete
ntegration
f the basic conditions
f
life,
as evidenced
bythetotalityf tsprogram fferings.elevision s distinguishedrom he
new
public
spheres
f
production,
or
xample
media
concentration,
y
the
institutionalization
f its
governmental
egulation.
Government
egulation
prevents
elevision's
omplete
omination
y
ndividual
apitalist
nterests
2
and
applies
norms
n
the form f
programmatic
bligations,
equiring
hat
programming
e
in
the
public
interest
-thus
preventing
he direct
satisfaction f the concrete needs
of
various social
groups.
Formally,
television tands
n
the tradition f the
bourgeois
public
sphere.Its
public
regulation
s
designed
o
prevent
he domination
f
the
medium
by
special
social interests. et the control
of
television
y
relevant
ocial
groups,which
guarantee
hat
programs
re balanced and that
they
erve
he public
well-being,
eallyonly
createsan
unstable
equilibrium
f
social
interests
incapable
of
achieving
onsensus,
ermitting
nly
an
abstract rade-off
f
the
values of the
bourgeois
public sphere.
The
increasing
pressure
for
legitimation
hichthis ituation
roduces
eads
to
half-solutions,
epeated
on
every
evel
of the
production ierarchy.
n
the
bourgeois
public sphere
the
opinio
communis
was
a
bond whose
content
n
principle
ould
still
be
determined. ut the
establishmentf
television
rogramming
n
the
basis
of
a
fictitious
ublic
well-being,
which even
specific
ndividual
programsshouldaddress, s theresult f a harmonization f interestsmade
possible
only
by
obfuscating
heir
concrete
contents.
This
relationship
between
increased
pressure
for
legitimation
nd abstract
trade-off f
interests
12.
The
fact
hat elevision
s
more
than
merely
mediumfor ndividual
apitalist
nterests
has
long
since
ceased
to mean
that
these
nterests ave no effect n actual calculations
nd
production.
he
increasing ispersion
f
production
n
enterprises
hich re either
private
r
contain
privately
inanced elevision ectormakes
any
real
public
regulation
nd control
f
these
productions
mpossible.
Moreover,
ising
osts n an
increasingly
iminishing
market
make
television
ncreasingly ependent
on
advertising
nd
the resale and distribution
f
programs
n a nationaland internationalelevisionmarketwhichhas begunto expandwith
the
cassette
ndustry).
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THE
PROLETARIAN
PUBLIC
SPHERE AND
POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION
69
restricts
elevisiono the
broadcasting
f
generalized
rograms p.
176)
which orrespondsn thepartof viewerso an abstracteceptivity.
The
programming
bligations
nd
guidelines
n
which--in
nalogy
o
com-
modity
roduction--the
ong-term
nterests
f
capital
re
expressed
merge
on
the
evel
f
program
lanning
s
contradictory
o the hort-term
nterests
of
ndividual
rograms
hich
tilize arious
d hoc
legitimations:
ating
scores,
opicality,
conomy
f
production,
echnical
uality,
esthetic
nno-
vation,
ntertainment
alue,
riginality,
tc. These
contradictory
elation-
ships
etween
orms
f
egitimation
rise
rom structure
f
production
n
which
arious
evels f
production
onverge:
t the evel f the
ndividual
televisionrogramsndfilms oncreteabor ncountershighlyomplex,
relatively
ontent-free
echnology,
nd
both
n turn re ncluded
n
abstract
planning
ctivities
nvolving
high
egree
fdivision
f abor.
On
the
part
f
the
product,
his contradiction
xpresses
tself
n the
divergence
f
a
program's
ndividual
lements:
he entertainment
alueof
the
program
assumes
n
ndependence
is-d-vis
ts
ducational
alue
ndthe
ducational
value
n
turn
ontradicts
he
program's
alue
as news.
This
contradiction
between
ong-term
nd short-term
nterestseveals
tself
n
every
rogram,
regardless
f
whether
t
deals
with
news,
critical
documentary
r
entertainment.he contradictions intensifiedytheambivalence hich
exists
etween
most
tations'
riticaltance
owards
heculture
nd
their
actual
function
s
producers
f
entertainment
p.
187).
On the
ubjective
ide,
his
ontradiction
xpresses
tself
n
the clashof
various
rientations
owards ork.
Conflictsccurmost
readily
n those
areas
where he oncrete
ctivity
f
the
program
roducers
uns
p
against
abstract
uidelines
nd
rigid
ime-cost
uotas
which ecide
he
program's
struggle
or ts
very
urvival.
he
often-interrupted
truggle
f the
past
years
or codified
ditorial
olicy
ame
from
recisely
hose
roups
who
couldconnectheir emands or odetermination,ordemocratizationf
the
decision
making
tructure,
o
the content ftheirwork. n
part
till
organized
rofessionally,
ut
already ssuming
heform f a trade
union,
this
movement f
editors nd contributors
oon
took
up
demands
transcending
heir wn conomic
nterests,
iming
nstead t a
self-criticism
of
radio and
television tations.
Negt
and
Kluge
incorrectly
ssess
he
direction f this
movement,
which
goes
far
beyond
he nstitutional
ramework
f the
television tations. ince
they
understand
he
struggle
or a codified
editorial
policy
only
as
an
organization
f economic
nterests
hich
eeks o extend ts
role
n
planning,
they
nderestimatehe extent fthe conflicts hich risefrom he demand
for
he
right
o determine
he content
f
one's work.The
authors
orrectly
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70
NEW GERMAN
CRITIQUE
perceive
hat
qualitative
ssuescannot be taken
up
productively
rom
the
position f the ndividual lanner.Yet bymaintaininghat the totalityf
viewer
needs
(p.
218),
the
fundamental
nterest
n
communication
s
such
(p.
180),
must be absorbed
in
the
institution f
television,
hat
reciprocal
ommunicative
elationships
must be
created
on
a
horizontal
level,
he authors
atally
pproach
the
neoromantic
uilding-block
heory
f
Hans
Magnus Enzensberger,
ho
formulated
echnical
utopias
above
the
actual
organization
f the
working
lass and
ignored
he
necessity
o
change
institutions
ithin
apitalist
elations
f
production.
When
Negt
and
Kluge
conclude:
Thus
the task of
subjecting
overnment-regulated
elevision
o
comprehensive ubliccriticismemains matterfor critics romwithout
(p.
219),
they
re
abandoning
the
political
terrain
without
onstructing
plausible
alternative. Because of its
increased
need
for
legitimation,
television
must
develop
a
strong
elf-interest
n
making
use
of
collective
social
experience
f the ort
which
s
created
n
political truggles.
hus it is
important
o
organize
those who
produce
television
rograms
n
order to
change
at least
partially
he
institutional
onditions
f
its
reception
nd
integration y
viewers.
For if
it
is
correct
o
maintainthat
the
cultural
critique,
which either
criticizes heconsciousnessndustrys a whole orsimply nalyzesdeological
tendencies f
individual
programs,
omes
up
short
gainst
television s
an
apparatus
of
industrial
production,
erving
nly
the
rearrangement
f
legitimation
ithin
he
apparatus
p.
219),
then
t
is
necessary
o discuss
concretely
he
kind
of
organizational,
echnological
nd
material
onditions
which
would
make
possible
he
development
f
counter-productions.
edia
critique obviously
annot startfrom
he
situation
f the
viewer
itting
n
front of the
set. But
neither can
it
ignore
the
medium's
internally
contradictory
nstitutional
ies,
or
its
structure f
reception
without
t the
same
time
investigating racticable
counter-models.
As
long
as the
politically
nd
materially
ecure nstitutionftelevision
s
not
fundamentally
changed
by
a
political
praxis
which
creates new
institutions,
practical
critique
s
limited o the
precise nvestigation
nd
evaluation
f
the
potential
for
opposition
hat can be
crystallized
n
the
medium.
The
interchange
between he television
tation nd its
viewers,
which
would make
possible
a
variety
f
television
hannels,
written nd
telephone
ommunicationsnd
assemblies f
viewers
p.
223),
could be
developed
more
fruitfully--but
only
under
ocialist
onditions.
n
the
present
ituation
t
is
still
necessary
o
seize
contradictory
endencies
n
themass
media
and
to
support
he
struggle
forcodeterminations an elementof revolutionarytrategy.
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THE
PROLETARIAN
UBLIC
SPHEREAND
POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION 71
In
contrast,
the
struggle
for the
creation and
acceptance
of
counter-productionsursuing utonomous oals continues n anotherevel.
Those
who are
engaged
in
the
struggle
or
codetermination
re
aiming
primarily
t
securing
egal, wage-related
nd
content
emands
within
heir
private
or
public
institutions.
ut the
organizers
f
counter-productions
have a different
oal
in
mind--expressed
n the
growing cooperation
between
socialist
publishing
houses,
newspapers
nd
magazines,
between
socialist
ilmmakers nd
filmdistribution
ooperatives.
While the
struggles
for
odetermination
im
at
an
improvement
n
the conditions f
production,
these
wider
struggles ttempt
o
acknowledge
nd
deal
adequately
with
needsarisingn response o the conditions f socialistpraxis.Clearly,the
organization
f
counter-productions
y
cooperating
eftist
roups
in
the
media can
only
result rom
he
unification
f socialist
raxis.
Under
present
conditions
t would
be
illusory
or
eft
roups
n the
media to
imagine
that a
mass
left
press
would have
a
chance
in the
struggle gainst
the
capitalist
cultural
ndustry
s
Willi
Mtinzenberg's
roductions
ad in the
Weimar
Republic.
Although
utonomous
o a
degree,
Mtinzenberg's
nterprises
ere
both
in
organization
and
content
dependent
on
a
relatively trong
Communist
Party
and
on a broad
revolutionary
movement
within
the
workinglass.The developmentf sucha broadmovement,onsistingoth
of
producers
and of
an
audience,
mediated
through
organization
and
experience
n
political
struggles,
s the
necessary
precondition
for
the
development
f socialist
ounter-productions
n
the media.
Even f
one believes
hat
present
ocialist
raxis
has reached
point
where
it can
pose
the
question
of the construction
f
counter-productions
n
the
media,
the
problem
till remains
whether,
s
Negt
and
Kluge suggest,
media
tradeunion
within
G Druck
und
Papier Printing
nd
Paper
Union)
really
would be
in a
position
to create a
politically
ffective
lliance
of
journalists,writersnd artists oncernedwithcodetermination ithin he
left
media. The
authors'
radical
critique
of media
workers'
ttempts
t
organization
whichdo
not
ncludedemands
for
he
control f the
means
of
productio