Clarifying the public/private distinction by eliminating it?: A response to Josh Boyd

Abstract

This response to Josh Boyd's “Corporate Rhetoric Participates in Public Dialogue” argues that in spite of the uncertain boundaries between public and private organizations and discourses, critics should retain a distinction between public and private spaces and statements. The response focuses on the ways in which economic interests may influence public deliberation, on Boyd's lack of suspicion of corporate discourse, and on the need for an ideal vision of the “public sphere” even though such a place does not exist.