Using South Africa as a starting point, this conference seeks to explore the contradictory possibilities of the public sphere in post-repressive, postcolonial contexts. It calls for papers on South Africa but also seeks comparative investigations of the relationship of public deliberation and democracy. While the focus is on contemporary public spheres, the conference is interested in processes of transition and the significance of the legacies of former repressive conditions.

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa