The article discusses the reasons and conditions for the rise and fall of the popularity of the public sphere concept in scholarly discourse in four parts. The first part examines the peculiar circumstances of the emergence of the concept of the public sphere, and its rapid and widespread adoption in the social sciences. The second part discusses the complexity of the concept “Öffentlichkeit” and its English proxy “the public sphere,” and the contemporary critique of its ideological predispositions. The third part focuses on the liberalization and (operational) banalization of the concept. The final part suggests ways in which social scientists could respond critically to the challenges outlined earlier and reintegrate publicness, the public, and the public sphere into the analysis.

文章分四个部分论述了公共领域概念在学术话语中盛行和衰落的原因和条件。第一部分考察了公共领域概念出现的特殊情况，以及它在社会科学中的迅速和广泛采用。第二部分讨论了“Öffentlichkeit”概念及其英文代理“公共领域”的复杂性，以及对其意识形态倾向的当代批判。第三部分侧重于概念的自由化和（操作）平庸化。最后一部分建议社会科学家如何批判性地应对前面概述的挑战，并将公共性、公众和公共领域重新整合到分析中。