Discursive Practices in the Digital Public Sphere of Modern Russia: Results and Directions of Research

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of digital discursive practices in the context of processes occurring in modern Russian politics. The author concludes that the digital public sphere of modern Russia is changing that was foreseen by J. Habermas. In the first part of the article classical approaches to the concept of “the public sphere” are analyzed and functional models of the public sphere and political communication are examined. In the second part of the article the author reveals the position of researchers in relation to the transformations of the public sphere caused by the active development of the Internet and social media and offers his own scheme for the functioning of the public sphere in a digital society. The third part focuses on discursive practices in the digital public domain. The results of author’s research using a special discourse analysis technique are presented. The advantages of this technique are revealed being based on the analysis of online discussions on the topic of raising the retirement age. At the end, discussion points and directions for further research in the field of digital public interaction between the state and citizens are indicated.

Keywords

• public sphere
• deliberative democracy
• discourse
• discussion
• discourse analysis communication