Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
rationality of the natural sciences, and turn instead to promoting greater rationality
in expressing and debating values.
12.2.2 Deliberative Planning and Communicative
Rationality
The deliberative paradigm (Forrester
1999
) places emphasis upon processes of
dialogue and argumentation, and upon communicative and value rationality.
Forrester (
1999
) noted that societies construct their lived worlds through language,
ideology and tradition, in which knowledge and power are intertwined, and this
focuses attention upon the role of discourse in the planning process. A discourse is
''a shared way of apprehending the world'' (Dryzek
2005
, p. 9). Discourses are
thus descriptions of meaning, accounts, and stories (Foucault
1972
) that reveal the
worldviews that organize social life, including the planning processes themselves
(Thompson et al.
1990
). One can examine narratives about landscapes that are
'spoken' by individuals or groups, and particular storylines or narratives are
inevitably associated with political power, in the sense that they can be used by
individuals or groups to control the discussion, allow or not allow certain infor-
mation to be used, persuade others, or get their way (Forrester
1989
). Landscape
ecological literature, for example, tends to privilege issues of biodiversity and
ecological function over, say, spiritual or aesthetic values.
Deliberative planning draws in turn upon critical theory, a philosophical pre-
mise that seeks greater rationality in communication through which (ideally) all
views and perspectives are given voice free of power bias (Habermas
1989
;
Leonard
1990
; Dryzek
1987
,
2000
,
2005
). Critical theorists argue that all com-
munication is influenced by the point of view of the speaker, and hence any
understanding of the world is based on individual biases and socially constructed
understanding (Leonard
1990
). Yet they believe that it is possible to be aware of
one's own and other's biases so that mutual understanding is possible (Forrester
1989
). Habermas (
1989
) proposed the idea of the 'public sphere' in which indi-
viduals consider what they are doing and determine how they will live together
collectively (Keane
1984
). An authentic public sphere is one in which the ideal
speech situation exists, where those involved all have communicative competence,
and can exchange views and understandings free from domination or deception
(Dryzek
1987
).
Habermas described solutions based on communicative rationality as reasoned
consensus (Dryzek
1987
). This does not require everyone to agree or even to like
the eventual decision, but means that after consideration of all points of view,
participants can live with a given course of action as the best option, given the
situation. Of course, in practice, a planning discourse can seldom if ever take place
in the ideal speech situation of communicative rationality. People express a
diversity of interests to varying degrees and in varying ways, and reaching a
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