The Problem is the Solution: Testing Agonistic Theory's Potential to Recast Intractable Planning Disputes

Mouat, Clare; Legacy, Crystal; March, Alan

doi:10.1080/08111146.2013.776496

Cited by 43 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This critique is particularly relevant regarding the inability of such approaches to re-negotiate power imbalances in the planning processes and to provide responses to urban challenges in extremely unequal urban contexts. Notions such us insurgent planning (Miraftab, 2009), post-collaborative planning (Brownill and Parker, 2010) movement-initiated co-production (Watson, 2014), socio-spatial learning (Natarajan, 2017), participation as political (Legacy, 2017) and agonistic practices (Gunder, 2003;Mouat et al 2013;Thorpe, 2017;Yamamoto, 2017), are examples of approaches that see participation not only as a 'tool' for the implementation of planning, but as a form of planning itself. In this paper, we want to build upon such debates, exploring the diversity of strategies that people and movements are developing to respond to the limitations of planning disputing the meaning of it, which includes approaches that the referred literature has already captured.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

'Participation as Planning': Strategies from the South to Challenge the Limits of Planning

Frediani¹,

Cociña²

2019

built environ

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Participation and collaborative approaches to planning have become central in urban debates and practices. Critiques to the limitations of 'participation in planning' , however, have led to the development of a series of approaches that build beyond 'collaborative' understandings of planning. Approaches such as insurgent or post-collaborative planning, movement-initiated co-production, socio-spatial learning, agonistic practices or participation as political have moved the understanding of planning towards a wider spectrum of city-making practices, beyond disciplinary and professional boundaries, and in which some forms of participation become the very practice of planning. This article builds upon those debates, proposing an understanding of 'participation as planning'. Building on Southern urban theory, and recognising the difference between a discussion about participation and one that looks at planning through participation, the article proposes to recognise that there is a range of experiences of participatory city-making taking place in urban contexts, some of which fall into one of the referred categories, while others have remained as a 'blind-spot' in planning debates. The article identifies and discusses a series of strategies that have emerged from Southern contexts, and that represent ways of dealing with planning limits: Collective forms of spatial production that respond to the inadequacy of planning instruments to engage with diverse processes of city-making situated beyond dominant practices; partnership-oriented practices that react to the neoliberalisation and financialisation of planning; and advocacy-oriented practices to contest abusive planning practices which violate human rights.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

'Participation as Planning': Strategies from the South to Challenge the Limits of Planning

Frediani¹,

Cociña²

2019

built environ

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“…We were interested in understanding how local resident groups and metropolitan alliances mobilise and slide between antagonistic and agonistic encounters with government and private sector actors. To date, little empirical research has considered the conditions that might precipitate the transition from antagonism to agonism in the urban politics and praxis of local citizenries (Mouat et al, 2013). The first adds conceptual clarity around Chantal Mouffe's claim that to achieve a productive agonistic politics, the antagonisms that exist in political encounters need to be moderated to more mutable adversarial positions (Mouffe, 1992(Mouffe, , 2005(Mouffe, , 2013.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For such ends, we contrast Mouffe's "politics", which is tied to antagonism and agonism, with what we call the "formal politics" of the planning system. To date, little empirical research has considered the conditions that might precipitate the transition from antagonism to agonism in the urban politics and praxis of local citizenries (Mouat et al, 2013). Therefore, the second task is to add some empirical weight to how local resident groups and urban alliances engage with the post-political city.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this case, it is a manifestation of their inability to affect or destabilise the current hegemony. On such grounds, urban scholars are paying more attention to the diverse methods that these groups use to influence or protest against urban planning and development in excess of any formal state-created engagement processes and events (McClymont, 2011;Mouat et al, 2013;Rogers, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracing resident antagonisms in urban development: agonistic pluralism and participatory planning

McAuliffe

Rogers

2018

Geographical Research

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This article draws on research with resident action groups and other alliances in Sydney. It investigates the ways in which citizens work beyond the formal planning system to approach and achieve their urban development goals. The post‐political treatment of community voices in planning relies on the centrality of consensus politics in current participatory planning regimes. By providing a democratic outlet that is far removed from the actual development outcome, powerful urban actors can silence through inclusion. Planning theorists have posited that one pathway beyond this post‐political moment in urban planning is provided by Chantal Mouffe's critique of Habermasian communicative theory and consensus politics, which she bases on her theory of agonistic pluralism. Following Mouffe, to achieve a productive agonistic politics, any rigid antagonisms between “enemies” need to be moderated to more mutable “adversarial” positions. However, we have little knowledge of the conditions that might precipitate such a change in praxis. To address this gap between theory and praxis, we use focus group data to show how local resident action groups and urban alliances work through three modalities of antagonism to achieve their urban development goals. We add empirical weight to the idea that citizens can shift from rigid and fundamental antagonisms to the potentially more productive adversarial politics of agonistic pluralism but therein expose some limitations with how Mouffe's ideas are being applied to urban planning.

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“…In this spirit, some recent work explores how an agonistic ethos might help productively reframe deliberative debates (e.g. Mouat et al, 2013).…”

Section: Understanding the Demands Of Democratic Citizenship Made By mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ordinary citizens and the political cultures of planning: In search of the subject of a new democratic ethos

Inch

2014

Planning Theory

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What is required of the citizen to make planning more democratic? In this article, I argue this previously overlooked question illuminates key challenges for democratising planning in theory and practice. Distinguishing between deliberative and agonistic conceptions of communicative planning, I review the qualities these theories demand of citizens. Through examples from Scotland, I then contrast this with the roles citizens are currently invited to perform within a growth-orientated planning culture, drawing attention to techniques that use constructions of 'good' and 'bad' citizenship to manage conflict generated by development. I conclude by suggesting that while 'ordinary' citizens' experiences draw attention to the strengths and weaknesses of deliberative and agonistic accounts, they also highlight hidden costs associated with participation that present significant challenges for the project of shaping a more democratic form of planning.

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The Problem is the Solution: Testing Agonistic Theory's Potential to Recast Intractable Planning Disputes

Cited by 43 publications

References 36 publications

'Participation as Planning': Strategies from the South to Challenge the Limits of Planning

'Participation as Planning': Strategies from the South to Challenge the Limits of Planning

Tracing resident antagonisms in urban development: agonistic pluralism and participatory planning

Ordinary citizens and the political cultures of planning: In search of the subject of a new democratic ethos

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