The Global Network Society and the Global Public Sphere

Ingrid Volkmer outlines the new ‘flow’ of political information that enables us to become informed about issues of global, regional as well as local relevance. The new media infrastructure allows an eyewitness view of events taking place in worldwide locations. These global processes, in which information and knowledge, political values, ethics, aesthetics and lifestyles are exchanged, are becoming increasingly autonomous from nation-state contexts and are beginning to shape a politically relevant ‘global’ public sphere. The author discusses parameters of this new political space.