Show notes
In this episode, Iyad and Ahmed discuss how a broad range of political and economic factors can impact democracy, and how the concept of a 'public sphere' can either strengthen or weaken democratic nations.Episode Timetags:05:00 - Centralisation of political and economic activity & weakened democracy06:00 - Economic inequality as a threat to democracy07:00 - APPGs in the UK, captured by the private sector - article referenced: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/17/lobbying-fears-as-mps-interest-groups-receive-13m-from-private-firms10:00 - French colonial censorship in Syria11:00 - "Public sphere" theory & democracy (+ shout-out to Belabbes Benkredda!)12:30 - Jurgen Habermas - German philosopher of the public sphere14:30 - Disinformation in the public sphere & the destruction of Arabic Twitter15:30 - What is the impact of a shared public sphere on nationalism?17:30 - Two public languages in The Middle East: Indo-European & Semitic