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         article-type="Research Paper"
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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>Politics, Culture and Society</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">PCS</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="ppub">3108-0545</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Dr. Omair Anas</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.68243/jpcs.2026.v1.i1.000005</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">PCS110005</article-id>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Beyond the Majoritarian Horizon: Examining the Indian Narrative of Minority Rights and Liberal Public Sphere</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Howladar</surname>
            <given-names>Sumit</given-names>
          </name>
          <contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid" authenticated="true">https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8463-1277</contrib-id>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"/>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="aff1">Centre for Studies of Plural Societies (CSPS), New Delhi</aff>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub" iso-8601-date="2026-01-07">
        <month>01</month>
        <day>07</day>
        <year>2026</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>1</volume>
      <issue>1</issue>
      <fpage>1</fpage>
      <lpage>20</lpage>
      <abstract>
        <p>The paper examines the structure of the public sphere in India with a special focus on
the minority rights discourse. To help reimagine this concept, it draws upon the theoretical interventions made by Jürgen Habermas, namely communicative action, Will Kymlicka’s liberal defense
of group-differentiated rights, Iris Marion Young’s transformative politics of difference and Bhikhu
Parekh’s dialogical model of multiculturalism. It maps the complex constitutional landscape around
minority rights and the deep-seated tensions among the stakeholders responsible for a pluralistic
public sphere, seeking to understand the anatomy of minority rights in India and its connection with
building a liberal public sphere. Four areas- normative, institutional, pedagogical, and technological- demand a reset to make the public sphere more receptive. On the normative side, a dominant
didactic framework directly bears on the public sphere; institutionally, the paper highlights the need
for accommodative templates to facilitate the minority communities’ engagement with the state.
Pedagogical intervention is critical, since the lack of a critical discourse reproduces social exclusion
and defeats a genuine public sphere. The paper also discusses the unprecedented digital expansion
in India and the degree of its alignment with the effort of creating a liberal public sphere.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group kwd-group-type="author">
        <kwd>Minority</kwd>
        <kwd>Rights</kwd>
        <kwd>Public</kwd>
        <kwd>Sphere</kwd>
        <kwd>Digital</kwd>
        <kwd>Constitutional</kwd>
        <kwd>Democracy</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
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