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The Politics of Environmental Discourse
Dr Hajer's path-breaking study opens the way for a better understanding of the environmental conflict, showing how language can be seen to shape our view of what environmental politics is really about and how those perceptions can differ between countries. The author identifies the emergence and increasing political importance of 'ecological modernization' as a new concept in the language of environmental politics. This concept, which has come to replace the antagonistic debates of the 1970s, stresses the opportunities of environmental policy for modernizing the economy and stimulating the technological innovation. Combining abstract social theory with detailed empirical analysis, Martin Hajer illustrates the social and political dynamics of ecological modernization in a detailed analysis of the acid rain controversies in Great Britain and the Netherlands. He concludes by reflecting on the institutional challenge of the environmental politics in the years to come.
Authoritative Governance
The role of the media has become a central part of politics and policy in the twenty-first century. That dominance has led many to suggest a trend of 'dumbing down': the privileging of style over content. In this provocative new book, Maarten Hajer takes issue with the 'dumbing down' thesis both on theoretical and empirical grounds. He aims to show how authoritative governance remains possible in crisis driven circumstances and a highly 'mediatized' world. The book elaborates a communicative understanding of authority, which, the author argues, can create a new basis for authoritative governance in a world marked by political and institutional fragmentation. Extending his discourse-analytica...
Deliberative Policy Analysis
What kind of policy analysis is required now that governments increasingly encounter the limits of governing? Exploring the new contexts of politics and policy making, this book presents an original analysis of the relationship between state and society, and new possibilities for collective learning and conflict resolution. The key insight of the book is that democratic governance calls for a new deliberatively-oriented policy analysis. Traditionally policy analysis has been state-centered, based on the assumption that central government is self-evidently the locus of governing. Drawing on detailed empirical examples, the book examines the influence of developments such as increasing ethnic and cultural diversity, the complexity of socio-technical systems, and the impact of transnational arrangements on national policy making. This contextual approach indicates the need to rethink the relationship between social theory, policy analysis, and politics. The book is essential reading for all those involved in the study of public policy.
In Search of New Public Domain
In search of new public domain is a report of an intensive quest to establish the preconditions for the design of new public spaces. On the basis of an analysis of the cultural geography of the network city, the authors develop a new perspective of cultural exchange as a typical urban quality. They are critical of the laments about the decline of the city and public space, as much as of a naive faith in architecture and urbanism as saving graces. A critical investigation of the new collective spaces that are popping up across the whole of the urban field offers an insight into the factors that facilitate the development of new public domain. Through their clarification of the theoretical background and analysis of topical issues such as public safety and social segregation, the authors offer insights and instruments for policy-makers and designers who are confronted with the new task of the design of public domain in the network city.
Neighbourhoods for the Future
To provide for ever-growing populations, cities build new neighbourhoods, transform old industrial areas, and renew the existing urban fabric. The focus now is on energy-neutral neighbourhoods, but in order for these to work, residents must be engaged and the tactics embedded within a broader social policy. This book revisits the neighbourhood as the appropriate scale to build our urban futures: it is small enough to be tangible, large enough to make a difference. Introducing the concepts of neighbourhood arrangements and ecologies, it provides a new perspective on the relation between participants, resources, and rules to spark change and realise future sustainable living.
Discourse Theory in European Politics
This volume of essays employs discourse theory to analyze mainstream topics in contemporary European politics. Inspired by developments in post-structuralist, psychoanalytic and post-Marxist theory, each contributor problematizes a central issue in European governance, including European security, Third Way politics, constitutional and administrative reform, new forms of nationalism and populism, the shift from welfare to workfare, environmental politics and local government. Alongside these substantive issues, the book tackles questions raised by the difficulties of applying discourse theory to empirical cases.
Living with Nature
This text aims to place the question of the dynamics of environmental crisis in a socio-cultural dimension of the existing economic and political institutions. It argues for a need to find a balance between theoretical analysis of the debate and an appreciation of local circumstances and knowledge.
Smart about Cities
"The discourse on "Smart Cities" is everywhere. It promises an era of innovative urban planning, driven by smart urban technologies that will make cities safer, cleaner and, above all, more efficient. Efficiency seems uncontroversial but does it make for great cities? In this book, Maarten Hajer, Director-general of PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and Ton Dassen, urban sustainability researcher at PBL, plea for a "smart urbanism" instead of uncritically adopting "smart cities". Such smart urbanism needs to find solutions for what modern 20th century urbanism has forgotten to take into account: the "metabolism" of cities - the variety of flows that connect city life to nature. What are we taking in, what are we discharging, and how efficiently are we doing that? Illustrated by 50 infographics, this book highlights both the challenges and opportunities for change. It calls for a "globally networked urbanism" that allows cities worldwide to learn faster and jointly identify effective strategies. A viable 21st century planning, rather than including top-down innovation, opts to embed technology in social innovations."--Contratapa.
Authoritative Governance
One of the world's leading analysts of public policy offers a radical new interpretation of governance and authority in a media-driven age.
