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Radical Innovation in the Era of Liberal Governance: The Case of Vienna
This article exploits the potential and limits of participation as a means to overcome authoritarian structures. The main argument is that social innovation at the grassroots level can only become radical if it helps overcome authoritarianism which is a general characteristic of capitalist societies...
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Published in: | European urban and regional studies 2007-07, Vol.14 (3), p.210-222 |
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Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | This article exploits the potential and limits of participation as a means to
overcome authoritarian structures. The main argument is that social innovation at
the grassroots level can only become radical if it helps overcome authoritarianism
which is a general characteristic of capitalist societies and has a specific form in
Austria and Vienna. The two projects chosen for in-depth analysis are initiatives of
bottom-up participation: Local Agenda 21 and Local Area Management. Both are deeply
interwoven with current processes of transformation in Europe, oscillating between
path dependency — surrendering to one more episode of controlled
modernization — and radical change — the diffusion of a
political culture of democracy and participation. The initiatives analysed focus on
a common political domain: broadening public participation by offering better access
to the local state and the public sphere. Both projects put in train broad
discussions of how to organize social change and mobilization. They are Janus-faced
as there were struggles between democratic tendencies, which seek to acknowledge a
wide range of stakeholders in policy making, and techno-corporate tendencies. Both
projects are `schools of participation', as they increased know-how and social
competence and raised consciousness. But only by questioning liberal governance and
the straitjacket of its naturalization of the market society can citizens regain
control of urban development and jointly shape the destiny of the city. |
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ISSN: | 0969-7764 1461-7145 |
DOI: | 10.1177/0969776407077738 |