Tim Richardson

Reflections on Foucauldian discourse analysis in planning and environmental policy research

Discourse analysis is becoming an increasingly common approach in planning and environmental policy research. This paper asserts that the generic treatment of discourse analysis obscures distinct approaches in which ‘discourses’ can combine different elements of text, systems of thought and action. Textually oriented approaches have been more prevalent during the 1990s, but this paper explores a different approach, grounded in the theory of Michel Foucault, which broadens discourse to embrace social action. Comparing and contrasting two studies that have utilized this approach, the paper suggests that there is considerable room for variation concerning the subjects of study, the institutional scale of analyses, the methods of investigation and process of analysis. Nevertheless, this paper identifies certain core elements of a Foucauldian discourse analytic approach. The paper concludes that this emerging approach to discourse analysis promises considerable insights if applied more widely in planning and environmental research. Copyright

Foucauldian discourse: power and truth in the policy process

Abstract This paper explores the implications of Michael Foucaults work on discourse, knowledge and power for our understanding of the policy process, and for planning theory. A recurrent weakness in planning theory is its failure to address issues of power. In particular, the recent turn to argument in planning theory, grounded in Habermasian Communicative Rationality, is marked by power‐blindness. The importance of a focus on power is discussed, focusing on the sociopolitical contexts of planning, theory in planning and the inter‐disciplinary nature of planning. The paper concludes that the turn to argument risks rendering the policy process vulnerable to the influence of power. Foucaults work suggests an alternative planning paradigm which unmasks and challenges power and brings the possibility of empowerment.

Discourses of mobility and polycentric development: a contested view of European spatial planning

This article carries out an analysis of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), a policy document which represents a critical moment in the emergence of a new discourse of European spatial development. The analytical approach probes at the power relations which have shaped the ESDP framework and its contents, focusing on the twin core themes of spatial mobility and polycentricity. The analysis concludes that in the contested policy process a new spatial discourse of economic competitiveness is emerging at the expense of social and environmental interests. This new discourse will be further contested as implementation takes place in an uncertain policy environment.

Placing the public in integrated transport planning

The paper argues the need for a more nuanced debate over the place of public involvement in transport planning in Britain, in the context of the current democratic turn in governance. The recent policy shift towards integrated transport has been accompanied by significant institutional changes, which have created a new framework for transport planning, with important implications for public involvement. Yet many issues underlying the new participative approach to transport planning have yet to be resolved. In this paper, the wider socio-political context for increasing inclusivity in planning processes is discussed, followed by a brief analysis of the condition of public involvement in transport planning in Britain. A conceptual framework then draws together the issues to be considered when planning programmes for public involvement in transport planning.

Discourses of rurality in EU spatial policy: the European Spatial Development Perspective.

The publication in 1999 of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) is a significant step towards European spatial planning. It follows a period of intergovernmental and inter-institutional development of a framework and policies, which raises many issues about the normative and discoursive positions and constructions which are integrated into the process. The paper reviews the emergence of the ESDP, and explores how ’rurality‘ is being contested within the new European spatial discourse it contains. The Foucauldian discourse analytic approach focuses on the articulation of a new policy discourse within the text of the adopted ESDP document, but places this analysis within a broader consideration of the contested policy process. Discussing three key policy issues peripherality, a new urban-rural partnership, and rural restructuring, the paper argues that the emphasis on competition, and the focus on urban areas and functional regions, raise clear concerns about the treatment of rurality. Key areas for further research are identified in response to the current vacuum of academic debate over rurality in European spatial policy.

The Trans-European Transport Network Environmental Policy Integration in the European Union

This article critically examines the integration of environmental policy in the European Union (EU), focusing on the development of Policy Guidelines for the trans-European transport network. Key events are charted by which the integration of environmental concerns came to hinge on a single contested issue-the adoption of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The success of SEA in achieving environmental-policy integration is evaluated. An important aspect of this approach is to explore how the hegemonic discourses in the EU shape the policy process, and condition the success or failure of environmental integration. The article reflects on current debates about ecological modernization in the EU, arguing that the institutional learning model is inappropriate, and suggesting that understanding ecological modernization as cultural politics may bring a clearer understanding of the constructed nature of environmental-policy integration.

The Europeanization of spatial strategy: Shaping regions and spatial justice through governmental ideas1

Abstract This paper contributes to the current spatial turn in planning research by analysing the Europeanization of strategic planning practices in a specific territory, and the consequent implications for spatial justice. The narratives of policy making presented suggest that the normative construct of polycentric urban development, underpinned by the fundamental spatial organizing principles of frictionless mobility and balanced regional development, led to new expressions and meanings of space in the South Yorkshire case. These challenged the prevailing view on the future of the former coal mining communities, and reasserted a model of economic growth based on the indigenous assets held in city centres.

Parallel public participation: An answer to inertia in decision-making

Abstract In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe public participation is a relatively new phenomenon that is being introduced to traditionally closed planning processes. In the face of inertia against the democratization of decision-making, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are beginning to play a critical, double role both in advocating the need for reform and in proactively establishing new practices in public participation. This article examines two case studies of environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes in the Czech Republic where, in response to this inertia, NGOs organized parallel public participation (PPP) programs alongside the formal EIA of proposals for a major tourism development at Rajcherov in South Bohemia and for an urban road development in Prerov in Northern Moravia. The article concludes that PPP can have a significant impact on EIA, and that it provides models of best practice that will help in the development of public participation in Central and Eastern Europe.

Freedom and control in planning: using discourse in the pursuit of reflexive practice

Do you ever feel that concepts like sustainable development are failing to rede® ne the difference that planning is making to the world? Does the way that sustainability slides from one meaning into another, as its core challenges, problems and solutions are framed and reframed, leave you uncertain about what it all means or what should be done? Or alternatively do you ® nd that your ® rm and clear convictions run into the sand time after time as other t̀akes’ on sustainability seem to hold sway (though it is hard to pin down how or why), and it seems dif® cult or risky to voice your concerns about the direction that things are taking? How often as planning practitioners or academics do we keep quiet in the face of what seems to be the playing out of the natural order of things, even when we know that injustice will result, or that our most deeply held values are silently screaming `NO!’ This article will argue that, with questions like these in mind, `discourse’ can be an important concept to planning practitioners. If practitioners engage with discourse thinking, and develop their critical awareness of planning as an arena of constant struggle over meanings and values in society, played out in the day-to-day micro-level practices of planning, they are likely to gain some very useful perspectives and insights which will strengthen their re ̄ exive practice. An attempt will be made to do this without the aid of a full armoury of offensive/defensive theoretical language, and without constant reference to higher academic authority (two common ways of seeking to control discourse, but more of that later). Instead, one or two everyday cases of planning will be used to unpack how discourse theory can be understood and applied, focusing on texts and languages, but also on practices and spaces. This will lead into discussion of how discourse theory turns our attention to the complex relations between discourses, power and knowledge. The article will conclude by arguing that discourse theory is inescapable as an element of both critical analysis and re ̄ exive practice in planning. But ® rst, I would like to take a paragraph or two to locate myself. I am probably one of those being taken to task by Robin Thompson (2000), for using language in my publications so obscure as to be inaccessible to, and indigestible by, practitioners (e.g. Richardson, 1996). I am intrigued by the idea of `planning theorists’Ð a subspecies of `planning academics’ Ð a small tribe of experts speaking to each other in strange tongues. It is funny, but actually I always thought that was what planners were like before I got to know very much about planning. As I have gradually accumulated more experiences of planning, in its broadest sense, I guess I have encountered more and more examples of tribalism across all planning arenas. Like Robin, I believe that language, and how it is reproduced in different places, is of critical importance in shaping events in the world, and certain languages can reinforce power structures. One of the worst examples of such abuse of power would be to use unnecessarily convoluted and complex academic language to construct an impenetrable facË ade which creates an impression of serious and relevant endeavour, but masks something which is entirely misguided or vacuous. This

Hydrogen-bonded liquid crystals from nitrophenols and alkoxystilbazoles

Three series of hydrogen bonded adducts have been formed between 4-alkoxy-4′-stilbazoles and the nitrophenols 4-nitrophenol, 3-nitrophenol and 2,4-dinitrophenol. Each series is mesomorphic displaying both nematic and smectic A phases, in sharp contrast to the behaviour of the individual components. The binary phase behaviour of mixtures of 3-nitrophenol and 4-octyloxystilbazole is reported, and gives conclusive evidence for the formation of a one-to-one hydrogen bonded adduct. Electronic spectroscopy of 2,4-dinitrophenol/decyloxystilbazole was very informative and showed that the higher energy, ionic hydrogen bonded state, corresponding to proton transfer, was significantly populated through the mesophase, and that the mesophase provides an additional stabilisation for this state.