Abstract

The author debates the difference between the classical model of the public sphere - as elaborated by classics from Aristotle to Arendt and Habermas - and its contemporary transformation and degradation. The public sphere is analysed as constructed both by communication and reproduction of common and public goods. Two critical cases are presented: the erosion of the fiscal nexus (the terms of the trade-off between individuals and the public sphere) and the role of the enhancement of capabilities in the reconstruction of the public dimension in our societies.