Power, Knowledge, and Public Engagement: Constructing 'Citizenship' in Alberta's Industrial Heartland

Foucault's concept of governmentality has provided the basis for recent analysis of governance that explains the connections between power and knowledge in the formation of subjects in advanced liberal societies. In this paper, we apply this concept to help to understand the persistent conflict...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental policy & planning 2008-12, Vol.10 (4), p.359-380
Main Authors: Masuda, Jeffrey R., McGee, Tara K., Garvin, Theresa D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alberta
Canada
Citizen participation
Citizenship
Environmental planning
Governance
governmentality
Industry
Knowledge
Media
Power
Public engagement
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Summary:Foucault's concept of governmentality has provided the basis for recent analysis of governance that explains the connections between power and knowledge in the formation of subjects in advanced liberal societies. In this paper, we apply this concept to help to understand the persistent conflict and power struggles that are characteristic of contemporary public engagement in environmental planning, using the case study of a regional land use plan known as Alberta's Industrial Heartland. Drawing on document and media analysis and key stakeholder interviews carried out between 2002 and 2003, we describe how several 'technologies of citizenship' were deployed and ultimately resisted in a public engagement program that attempted to prescribe the terms of reference for public participation. The findings support a view that sees public engagement less as a tool for promoting democratic consensus and more as means to legitimate particular forms of governance that privilege narrowly defined economic goals at the expense of citizen rights and values.
ISSN:1523-908X
1522-7200
DOI:10.1080/15239080802332026