In the public sphere, the debates and discourse of the dominant public can overpower other publics and exclude them from these discourses. Counter publics are formed by their conflict with the norms and contexts of their cultural environment. Also, counter publics are created by people in marginalized groups, whose opinions and their side of the debate are not listened to. Counter publics are relevant because they bring up issues and problems that may have been overlooked, ignored, or have been ended by dominant publics. Counter publics want to challenge or counterpower the dominant public in order to have their views and opinions be heard.

An example of a counter public is the Occupy Movement. The Occupy Movement took place on September 17, 2011 at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan. Citizens protested income inequality and corporate corruption. This movement can be known as a counter public because people who feel like their opinions are insignificant or marginalized have come together to share their voices with the world. Furthermore, the Occupy Movement opens up a space for other counter public movements, such as black caucuses, LGBT caucuses, etc. to voice their thoughts that they feel like have not been heard. This was a perfect place for citizens to express their opinions on topics that they feel like have not been heard. The citizens who were involved in this movement felt that their voices were not being heard in American political and economic discourse. This protest allowed people to share their views about different issues to the hundreds of people who encountered this protest. 

Habermas defines the public sphere as, “made up of private people gathered together as a public and articulating the needs of society with the state.” His criteria of a public sphere is that citizens can come together to discuss opinions relating to a certain topic of debate, which will eventually form a public opinion. I believe this can be applied to a counter public because they represent a group of people coming together to voice their point of view on a situation that they feel has been ignored or not listened to.

Jürgen Habermas and the Public Sphere, https://www.media-studies.ca/articles/habermas.htm.

“Occupy Wall Street Begins.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 Sept. 2021, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/occupy-wall-street-begins-zuccotti-park.

“Public Rhetoric.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 June 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_rhetoric.