Search results for ""author jonathan s. davies""

Theories heralding the rise of network governance have dominated for a generation. Yet, empirical research suggests that claims for the transformative potential of networks are exaggerated. This topical and timely book takes a critical look at contemporary governance theory, elaborating a Gramscian alternative. It argues that, although the ideology of networks has been a vital element in the neoliberal hegemonic project, there are major structural impediments to accomplishing it. While networking remains important, the hierarchical and coercive state is vital for the maintenance of social order and integral to the institutions of contemporary governance. Reconsidering it from Marxist and Gramscian perspectives, the book argues that the hegemonic ideology of networks is utopian and rejects the claim that there has been a transformation from 'government' to 'governance'. This important book has international appeal and will be essential reading for scholars and students of governance, public policy, human geography, public management, social policy and sociology.

Read more less

Previously published as a special issue of Policy Studies, this volume demonstrates the vitality of the field of urban politics and presents future challenges for urban political research in the years ahead.If it does not already, the population of cities will very soon make up more than half the global population. As the global urban population continues to expand, the challenges facing urban politics grow with it. How do we understand the relationship between politics and urban policy? What are the political challenges facing citizens and politicians in a radically unequal developing country like South Africa? How are patterns of urban governance institutionalised? How might we understand the changing relationship between hierarchies, markets and networks? And is it possible to develop a genuinely comparative urban politics in countries as different as Canada, South Africa and Bangladesh? Drawing together the work of new and established scholars from the UK, Canada, the US and South Africa in an impressive and wide ranging collection of articles, this book demonstrates the contribution of urban scholarship to answering these questions.

Read more less

This book presents the findings of a major Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project into urban austerity governance in eight cities across the world (Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Melbourne, Dublin, Leicester, Montréal and Nantes). It offers comparative reflections on the myriad experiences of collaborative governance and its limitations. An international collaborative from across the social sciences, the book discusses ways that citizens, activists and local states collaborate and come into conflict in attempting to build just cities. It examines the development of egalitarian collaborative governance strategies, provides innovative ideas and tools to extend emancipatory governance practices and shows hopeful possibilities for cities beyond austerity and neoliberalism.

Read more less

This book presents the findings of a major Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project into urban austerity governance in eight cities across the world (Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Melbourne, Dublin, Leicester, Montréal and Nantes). It offers comparative reflections on the myriad experiences of collaborative governance and its limitations. An international collaborative from across the social sciences, the book discusses ways that citizens, activists and local states collaborate and come into conflict in attempting to build just cities. It examines the development of egalitarian collaborative governance strategies, provides innovative ideas and tools to extend emancipatory governance practices and shows hopeful possibilities for cities beyond austerity and neoliberalism.

Read more less