Search results for ""author steven sampson""
The University of Chicago Press Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice
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. However, Bent Flyvbjerg argues that rationality is context-dependent and that the crucial context is determined by decision-makers' political power. Flyvbjerg takes us behind the scenes to uncover the real politics - and real rationality - of public administration and planning in an internationally acclaimed project for environmental improvement in the Danish city of Aalborg. The result is a narrative that is both concrete and general, current and timeless. Drawing on the ideas of Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Habermas, and Foucault, Flyvbjerg reads the Aalborg case as a metaphor of modernity and of modern politics. Flyvbjerg shows how power actually distorted policy deliberation over a policy aimed at, among other things, reducing auto traffic in downtown Aalborg. He demonstrates how modern "rationality" can only be an ideal when confronted with the real rationalities involved in decision-making by administrators and policy makers. Flyvbjerg then elaborates on how this problem can be avoided so that fruitful deliberation and action can occur.
£24.43
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Anthony Giddens: An Introduction to a Social Theorist
Anthony Giddens is one of the world's most prominent and prolific sociologists, and yet he is also a difficult study for the beginning student of sociology. This is the first introduction to the work of Giddens, including the major part of his sociological and social theoretical project. The author traces Giddens' development from the late sixties to the nineties in a straightforward, readable style, covering all parts of Giddens's sociology in a well-arranged summary. Also featured is a lengthy interview with Giddens by the author, and the most comprehensive Giddens bibliography to date.
£45.95
