The reproduction of canonical silences: re-reading Habermas in the context of slavery and the slave trade

Abstract Recent discussions on “decolonizing” knowledge production have often foregrounded the importance of centering “marginal” perspectives, which is crucial but insufficient as it risks leaving canon untouched. Jürgen Habermas’ book bourgeois public sphere one most frequently cited and debated canonical texts in media communication studies. Drawing case London’s coffee houses newspapers, this article argues for a critical re-engagement with thinkers. It examines what emergence 17th- 18th-century England looks like if we re-read within context slavery slave trade. The demonstrates that race does not simply provide another “prism” to examine instead enables constitutive it. reproduction silences through continued circulation influential has implications how conceptualize racialized publics contemporary times.