I explore the core Habermasian concept of rational consensus-formation and its counterfactuality before introducing the possibility of permanence of conflict, non-reciprocity and domination (i.e. of agonism) which may productively explain some of the powergames enacted in planning decision-making. In so doing I draw on the concept of agonism and introduce the political into Habermas' moral theorization. Where the personal and the political intersect there is a role for psychology. I illustrate how Habermas' communicative theorizing was itself partly developed from a psychoanalytical tradition before introducing some of the concepts popularized by Jacques Lacan. I conclude that development of communicative planning theory could usefully retain some of Habermas' psychological foundations while turning to the work of Lacan as a basis for an enhanced understanding of the realities of planning practice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allmendinger, P. (1999) `Beyond Collaborative Planning' , paper presented at AESOP conference, Bergen, 7 July.
2.
Arendt, H. (1958) The Human Condition. Chicago, IL: Chicago Press .
3.
Badiou, A. (2000) `The Concept of Democracy' , lacanian ink16: 28-43 .
4.
Baum, H. (1997) The Organisation of Hope. Albany, NY: SUNY Press .
5.
Baum, H. (2000) `Fantasies and Realities in University-Community Partnerships' , Journal of Planning Education and Research20(2): 234-246 .
6.
Bauman, Z. (2000) Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press .
7.
Benhabib, S. (1992) `Models of Public Space: Hannah Arendt, the Liberal Tradition and Jurgen Habermas', in C. Calhoun (ed.) Habermas and the Public Sphere, pp. 73-98. Cambridge: MIT Press .
8.
Briand, M. (1999) Practical Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press .
9.
Brown, W. (1995) States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
10.
Butler, J. (1997) The Psychic Life of Power. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press .
11.
Chomsky, N. and Herman, E. (1988) Manufacturing Consent. New York: Pantheon .
12.
Connolly, W. (1991) Identity\Difference. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press .
13.
Connolly, W. (1998) `Beyond Good and Evil: The Ethical Sensibility of Michel Foucault', in J. Moss (ed.) The Later Foucault, pp. 108-128. London: Sage .
14.
Dean, J. (2001) `Publicity's Secret' , Political Theory29(5): 624-650 .
15.
Dyrberg, T. (1997) The Circular Structure of Power. London: Verso .
16.
Eder, K. (1996) The Social Construction of Nature. London: Sage .
17.
Elster, J. (1993) Political Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
18.
Evans, D. (1998) `From Kantian Ethics to Mystical Experience: An Exploration of Jouissance', in D. Nobus (ed.) Key Concepts of Lacanian Psychoanalysis, pp. 1-28. London: Rebus Press .
19.
Flyvbjerg, B. (1998) Rationality and Power. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
20.
Foucault, M. (1982) `The Subject and Power', in H. Dreyfus and P. Rabinow (eds) Michel Foucault; Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, pp. 214-232. Brighton: Harvester .
21.
Foucault, M. (1984) `What is Enlightenment?', in P. Rabinow (ed.) The Foucault Reader, pp. 32-50. New York: Pantheon .
22.
Foucault, M. (1994) `Le Sujet et le Pouvoir', in P. Rainbow (ed.) Dits et Ecrits, Vol. 3, pp. 222-243. Paris: Gallimard .
23.
Fuery, P. (1995) Theories of Desire. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press .
24.
Gallop, J. (1985) Reading Lacan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press .
25.
Gray, J. (1995) `Agonistic Liberalism', in E. Paul, F. Miller and J. Paul (eds) Contemporary Political and Social Philosophy, pp. 111-135. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
26.
Gunder, M. (2000) `Planning for Joy: Bringing-forth the Places of the Others' Desire' , in J. Stephens (ed.) Conference Proceedings, Habitus 2000: A Sense of Place. Perth: Curtin University. [CD-Rom]
27.
Gunder, M. (2003, forthcoming) `Passionate Planning for the Other's Desire: An Agonistic Response to the Dark Side of Planning' , Progress in Planning60(3).
28.
Habermas, J. (1971a) Knowledge and Human Interests. Boston, MA: Beacon Press .
29.
Habermas, J. (1971b) `Der Universalitätsanspruch der Hermeneutik', in K. Apel (ed.) Hermeneutik und Ideologiekritik, pp. 120-159. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp .
30.
Habermas, J. (1979) Communication and the Evolution of Society. London: Heinemann .
31.
Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 1. Boston, MA: Beacon Press .
32.
Habermas, J. (1987) The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 2. Boston, MA: Beacon Press .
33.
Habermas, J. (1990) Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
34.
Habermas, J. (1991) `Yet Again: German Identity - A Nation of Angry DM-Burghers?' , in S. Brockmann (ed.) The Debate on German Unification, Special Issue of New German Critique52: 84-101 .
35.
Habermas, J. (1993) Justification and Application. Cambridge: Polity .
36.
Habermas, J. (1996) Between Facts and Norms. Cambridge: Polity .
37.
Habermas, J. (1998) The Inclusion of the Other. Cambridge: Polity .
38.
Habermas, J. (2001a) The Liberating Power of Symbols. Cambridge: Polity .
39.
Habermas, J. (2001b) The Postnational Constellation. Cambridge: Polity .
40.
Innes, J. and Gruber, J. (1999) `Planning Strategies in Conflict: The Case of Regional Transportation Planning in the Bay Area' , paper presented at AESOP conference, Bergen, 8 July.
41.
Irwin, A. (1995) Citizen Science. London: Routledge .
42.
Johnston, H. and Klandermans, B. (eds) (1995) Social Movements and Culture. London: UCL Press .
43.
Lacan, J. (1977) Ecrits, trans. A. Sheridan. New York: W.W. Norton .
44.
Laclau, E. (1996) Emancipation(s). London: Verso .
45.
Laclau, E. and Mouffe, C. (1985) Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. London: Verso .
46.
Laclau, E. and Mouffe, C. (2002) `Hope, Passion, Politics', in M. Zournazi (ed.) Hope, pp. 122-149. Sydney: Pluto .
47.
Lax, D. and Sebenius, J. (1986) The Manager as Negotiator. New York: Free Press .
48.
Lynn, J. and Jay, A. (1981) Yes Minister, Vol. 1. London: BBC .
49.
McCarthy, T. (1978) The Critical Theory of Jürgen Habermas. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
50.
McGuirk, P. (2001) `Situating Communicative Planning Theory: Context, Power, and Knowledge' , Environment and Planning A33(2): 195-218 .
51.
MacMillan, J. (2002) `FOI in Australia', Background Briefing, ABC Radio National , 9 April.
52.
Mansbridge, J. (1995) `A Deliberative Perspective on Neocorporatism', in E. Wright (ed.) Associations and Democracy, pp. 133-147. London: Verso .
53.
Morris, A. and Mueller, C. (eds) (1992) Frontiers of Social Movement Theory. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .
54.
Mouffe, C. (1993) The Return of the Political. London: Verso .
55.
Mouffe, C. (1996) `Deconstruction, Pragmatism and the Politics of Democracy', in C. Mouffe (ed.) Deconstruction and Pragmatism, pp. 1-12. London: Routledge .
56.
Mouffe, C. (1997) `Democratic Identity and Pluralist Politics', in R. Bontekoe and M. Stepaniants (eds) Justice and Democracy, pp. 381-393. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press .
57.
Mouffe, C. (1999) `Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism?' , Social Research66(3): 745-758 .
58.
Mouffe, C. (2000) The Democratic Paradox. London: Verso .
59.
Mouffe, C. (2001-2) `Democracy - Radical and Plural' , CSD Bulletin9(1): 10-13 .
60.
Mouffe, C. (2002) `Which Kind of Space for a Democratic Habitus?', in J. Hillier and E. Rooksby (eds) Habitus: A Sense of Place, pp. 93-100. Aldershot: Ashgate .
61.
Newman, S. (2001) From Bakunin to Lacan. Oxford: Lexington .
62.
Nietzsche, F. (1954) Twilight of the Idols. New York: Penguin .
63.
Pløger, J. (2001) `Public Participation and the Art of Governance' , Environment and Planning B28(2): 219-241 .
64.
Pottage, A. (1998) `Power as an Art of Contingency: Luhmann, Deleuze, Foucault' , Economy and Society27(1): 1-27 .
65.
Rampton, S. and Stauber, J. (2002) `Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with your Future' , Loka Alert9(1): 1-10 , accessed 6 August 2002, http://www.loka.org
66.
Rescher, N. (1993) Pluralism: Against the Demand for Consensus. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
67.
Rubin, J. (1998) `Some Wise and Mistaken Assumptions about Conflict and Negotiation', in W. Breslin and J. Rubin (eds) Cambridge: Program on Negotiation, pp. 3-12. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School .
68.
Sager, T. (1994) Communicative Planning Theory. Aldershot: Avebury .
69.
Shiffman, G. (2002) `Construing Disagreement: Consensus and Invective in “Constitutional” Debate' , Political Theory30(2): 175-203 .
70.
Stavrakakis, Y. (1999) Lacan and the Political. London: Routledge .
71.
Tajbakhsh, K. (2001) The Promise of the City. Berkeley: University of California Press .
72.
Tewdwr-Jones, M. and Thomas, H. (1998) `Collaborative Action in Local Plan-making: Planners' Perceptions of Planning through Debate' , Environment and Planning B25(1): 127-144 .
73.
Torfing, J. (1999) New Theories of Discourse: Laclau, Mouffe and Zizek. Oxford: Blackwell .
74.
Tully, J. (2001) `Introduction', in A.-G. Gagnon, and J. Tully (eds) Multinational Democracies, pp. 1-33. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
75.
Villa, D. (1999) Politics, Philosophy, Terror. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
76.
Walzer, M. (1999) `Deliberation, and What Else?', in S. Macedo (ed.) Deliberative Politics, pp. 58-69. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
77.
Warren, M. (1995) `The Self in Discursive Democracy', in S. White (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Habermas, pp. 167-200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
78.
Wolin, S. (1996) `Fugitive Democracy', in S. Benhabib (ed.) Democracy and Difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
79.
Young, I.M. (1995) `Social Groups in Associative Democracy', in E. Wright (ed.) Associations and Democracy, pp. 207-213. London: Verso .
80.
Young, I.M. (1997) Dilemmas of Gender, Political Philosophy and Policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
81.
Zizek, S. (1991) Looking Awry. Cambridge: MIT Press .
82.
Zizek, S. (1997) The Abyss of Freedom. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press .
