Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice
- Book Review,
by Bent Flyvbjerg
The Australian
"The sharpest advance in our understanding of how power actually works since Machiavelli's The Prince was published in 1532."
Alasdair Macintyre, University of Notre Dame
"Deeply original ... This book presents the single most important challenge to the perspectives of conventional social science."
American Political Science Review
"Successful ... distinctive ... original."
European Societies, European Sociological Association
"Enthralling ... a seminal contribution ... demonstrates the fruitfulness of the intellectual tradition from Thucydides, Machiavelli and Nietzsche."
Journal of the American Planning Association
"This book should be compulsory reading."
Alasdair Macintyre, University of Notre Dame
"Deeply original ... This book presents the single most important challenge to the perspectives of conventional social science."
Journal of the American Planning Association
"This book should be compulsory reading."
Book Description
"It's like the story of Little Town," an influential actor says in Rationality and Power when choosing a metaphor to describe how he manipulated rationality to gain power, "The bell ringer . . . has to set the church clock. So he calls the telephone exchange and asks what time it is, and the telephone operator looks out the window towards the church clock and says, 'It's five o'clock.' 'Good,' says the bell ringer, 'then my clock is correct.'"
In the Enlightenment tradition, rationality is considered well-defined, independent of context; we know what rationality is, and its meaning is constant across time and space. Bent Flyvbjerg shows that rationality is context-dependent and that the crucial context is determined by decision-makers' power. Power blurs the dividing line between rationality and rationalization. The result is a rationality that is often as imaginary as the time in Little Town, yet with very real social and environmental consequences.
Flyvbjerg takes us behind the scenes to uncover the real politics--and real rationality--of policy-making, administration, and planning in an internationally acclaimed project for environmental improvement, auto traffic reduction, land use, and urban renewal. The action takes place in the Danish city of Aalborg, but it could be anywhere. Aalborg is to Flyvbjerg what Florence was to Machiavelli: a laboratory for understanding power and what it means for our more general concerns of social and political organization. Policy-making, administration, and planning are examined in ways that allow a rare, in-depth understanding. The reader is a firsthand witness to the classic, endless drama that defines what democracy and modernity are, and what they can be.
The result is a fascinating narrative that is both concrete and general, current and timeless. Drawing on the ideas of Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Foucault, and Habermas, Flyvbjerg reads the Aalborg case as a metaphor of modernity and of modern politics, administration, and planning. Flyvbjerg uncovers the interplay of power and rationality that distorts policy deliberation. He demonstrates that modern "rationality" is but an ideal when confronted with the real rationalities involved in decision making by central actors in government, economy, and civil society. Flyvbjerg then elaborates on how this problem can be dealt with so that more fruitful deliberation and action can occur.
If the new millennium marks a recurrence of the real, Flyvbjerg's Rationality and Power epitomizes this development, setting new standards for social and political inquiry. Richly informed, powerfully argued, and clearly written, this is a book that no one trying to understand policy-making, administration, and planning can afford to overlook.
"Flyvbjerg employs a wide-ranging intellect, an enthusiastic and persuasive voice, academic rigor, and great discipline to distill years of research into an outstanding and accessible 250-page civics lesson. It begs for a readership outside academic and professional circles . . . Rationality and Power's value is undeniable as a handbook and forensic tool for anyone seeking a better understanding of and access to the democratic process."--Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"It makes an extremely strong, and to the reviewer's mind incontrovertible, argument for placing the analysis of planning within the context of power relations. As a result it will also make a significant mark on the development of planning theory."--Geographical Journal
"A book that is to be recommended doubly, first to all those engaged in planning and implementation in a democratic context, and also to all those interested in empirical power research. Rationality and Power is rewarding even enthralling reading, a seminal contribution to its field."--European Societies
"This book is a must for anyone interested in how planning works . . . a reality shock . . . excellent and illuminating."--International Planning Studies
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Danish
From the Publisher
FOR COURSES IN: - Political science: Political and social theory; Democracy; Power; Community power; Urban politics; Local government; Political rationality. - Sociology: Individual, state, and society; Political sociology; Community studies; Urban sociology. - Urban policy and planning. - Geography: Human geography; Urban geography; Political geography. - Environmental studies; Urban environment. - Public administration; public management; Ethics. - Business administration: Business and society; Ethics. - Anthropology: Anthropology of policy; Urban anthropology. - Cultural studies: Cultures of power; Cultures of rationality. - Research methods: Case study research; Narrative. - Philosophy and philosophy of science: Rationality; Power; Context; Narrative. AT THE LEVEL OF: - Advanced undergraduate students. - Graduate students. - Lecturers and researchers. - Professionals.
From the Author
The author would value any comments readers may have on the book.
From the Inside Flap
"Impressive in its detail and comprehensiveness – rare for an issue of this kind, perhaps unique." ROBERT A. DAHL, STERLING PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, YALE UNIVERSITY "I have read and reread this book. It is superb, a real breakthrough, and will be a classic in its field." C. ROLAND CHRISTENSEN, ROBERT WALMSLEY UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY "Rationality and Power is one of the two or three best 'through-keyhole' looks into modernity's kitchen I've ever come across. It is shrewd, perceptive, insightful and powerful all at the same time. The case for rationality being the handmaiden of (or the shade cast by) power has been 'open and shut'; it is proved beyond reasonable doubt. I pray that the book has the wide readership – and impact – it so richly deserves." ZYGMUNT BAUMAN, EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS "[Flyvbjerg] has written a text which marries incisive and illuminating conceptual analysis with detailed empirical research into a particular case ... I am highly impressed ... Rationality and Power will make a real contribution to the Anglo-Saxon debate." STEVEN LUKES, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY "Rationality and Power is a seminal work and will have a wide audience. The book is unusual (and, hence, much needed) because it points both to the ubiquity and necessity of power." AARON WILDAVSKY, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY "I have not encountered a better case study of urban planning. The case is rich in political, institutional, and interpersonal detail. It illuminates in many ways how models of rational choice and planning fail to capture the games of interests and powers that are inevitably draped over the rationalizing structures of bureaucratic regimes. Moreover, by locating this case study in a context of recent philosophical discourse about ideals of ratio-nal deliberation, Flyvbjerg also provides an object lesson in the shortcomings of such ideals." DONALD A. SCHÖN, FORD PROFESSOR EMERITUS, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY "I know no other work with this level of detail. There is a need of knowledge of exactly the issues covered." ARNE NÆSS, PROFESSOR, CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT, OSLO UNIVERSITY "A brilliant, provocative blending of empirical research and political philosophy." JOHN FRIEDMANN, HONORARY PROFESSOR OF PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA "Showing how power corrupts not only character but public discourse, how bluffing and deception dis-place sound argument, how rationalization displaces rationality, Flyvbjerg provides the best Habermasian example of systematically distorted commu-nications that I know of." JOHN FORESTER, PROFESSOR OF PLANNING, CORNELL UNIVERSITY "Rationality and Power is a really fine demonstration of the value of in-depth 'storytelling' ... and it engages with some of the most important social scientific and philosophical literatures of our day ... I anticipate that it will be very widely used." PATSY HEALEY, PROFESSOR OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE "The author does to Habermas and his discursive ethics what Meyerson and Banfield have done to rationality: a merciless confrontation with what really goes on in practice. To this end, Flyvbjerg brings a delightful crowd of celebrities, philosophers, and political theorists from Aristotle to Machiavelli, Nietzsche and Foucault to Aalborg ... This is an impor-tant book on a par, not only with the study by Meyerson and Banfield, but also with other classics." ANDREAS FALUDI, PROFESSOR OF SPATIAL POLICY SYSTEMS IN EUROPE, UNIVERSITY OF NIJMEGEN
About the Author
Bent Flyvbjerg is Professor of Planning at the Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Denmark. He was twice a Visiting Fulbright Scholar to the US and has done research at UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Harvard University. His most recent books are Megaprojects and Risk (Cambridge), Making Social Science Matter (Cambridge), and Rationality and Power (Chicago). His interests are both theoretical and practical. He works internationally as an advisor on urban policy and planning, including for the European Union, the United Nations, national governments, and private companies.
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