Identity, Discourse, and Policy:
Reconstructing the Public Sphere

by Matthew Weinberg

About: It is through interchange that individuals and the communities they compose are able to define their identities and their long-term goals. In this sense, human life has a “fundamentally dialogical character.” New models of social transformation will emerge only from a change in consciousness about who we are, how we regard others who enter our ambit—no matter how near or distant—and how we collectively design the structures and processes of social life, whether local or global. Giving full consideration to the multiple dimensions of human experience in public discourse can give rise to new social meanings and expand policy dialogues beyond narrow conceptual boundaries.