New Paradigm or Old Myopia? Unsettling the Communicative Turn in Planning Theory

Abstract

During the last decade or so, many planning theorists have taken a so-called communicative turn, to the point where somiie have declared the emergence of a dominant new paradigm supported by increasing consensus among theorists. We wish to raise a number of broad questions about the communicative paradigm and claims for its theoretical dominance. We point to alternative analytical positions that focus on issues of power, of the state, and of political economy, in ways that are often underplayed in the communicative literature and that demonstrate a healthy diversity in the field. We offer six critical propositions about communicative planning theory as a contribution to the ongoing debates, in theory and practice, about the conitested nature of planning, its practices and effects.