The Public Sphere in Egypt: The Intercultural Dialogue Forum as a Model (Arabic)

This study aims to answer a major question: Does the Intercultural Dialogue Forum of the Coptic Evangelical organization represent a model of public sphere? The study goes further to answer other non-major questions: (1) what are the main characteristics of the specific structural dimension of the public sphere. (2) To recognize the characteristics of the specific representative dimension of the public sphere (3) To monitor such symbolic practices and interactions that take place in the public sphere. (4) To Disclose the nature of debates and deliberations within the public sphere. (5) To unveil comprehensiveness of the present discourse in the public sphere. (6) To monitor freedom of communication among interacting parties within the public sphere. (7) To disclose the terms of dialogue and interaction within the public sphere. (8) To recognize the consistency of the public sphere with res publica (public affair).
 The current study has been conducted on a sample of actors in The Intercultural Dialogue Forum of the Evangelical Commission as a model of a public sphere. This sample consists of twenty participants. The study adopts the descriptive methodology, relying on in-depth interviews. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher adopts a theoretical framework based on Habermas' Public sphere theory, and Dahlgren's three-dimensional theory of public sphere.
To conclude, the present study has come up with a number of important results. The forum represents different spectrums of Egyptian society varied in age. The study also has shown that there is an increasing and equitable representation of women in the forum which exceeds fifty percentages. Survey data, which vary according to the ideologies of the participants who use various forms of arguments, have revealed the diversity of arguments and deliberations in their discussion of general topics in addition to a diversity of public interest that intersect all sectors of Egyptian society.