Planned meetings : Multiplicity, boxed-in dialogues, and deliberative bureaucracy as social form
(2023) In Current Sociology 71(7). p.1217-1234- Abstract
In what ways are meetings a social form? How are meetings organized and how do organizations structure meetings to produce consensus around visions of the future? In this article, planning meetings, which gather representatives from the regional Public Transport Authority and the municipalities involved in public transport planning in Stockholm, Sweden, is probed as a social form. By structuring the meetings as collaborative planning processes, the Public Transport Authority’s ambition is to draw on the municipalities’ multiplicity of experiences and views but then arrive at a consensus, on which a strategic document is produced. However, these meetings are perplexing as a social form. While expectations of their outcomes vary,... (More)
In what ways are meetings a social form? How are meetings organized and how do organizations structure meetings to produce consensus around visions of the future? In this article, planning meetings, which gather representatives from the regional Public Transport Authority and the municipalities involved in public transport planning in Stockholm, Sweden, is probed as a social form. By structuring the meetings as collaborative planning processes, the Public Transport Authority’s ambition is to draw on the municipalities’ multiplicity of experiences and views but then arrive at a consensus, on which a strategic document is produced. However, these meetings are perplexing as a social form. While expectations of their outcomes vary, dialogues in the meetings are boxed-in as they follow standardized protocols for agendas, discussions, and decision points. Planned meetings, as this article shows, are an undertheorized aspect of attempts at future-making among formally independent bureaucracies. The article concludes by proposing that deliberative ideals in bureaucratic settings allude to deliberative bureaucracy through the social form of planned meetings.
(Less)
- author
- Paulsson, Alexander LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Deliberative bureaucracy, dialogue, meetings, public transport, social form
- in
- Current Sociology
- volume
- 71
- issue
- 7
- pages
- 1217 - 1234
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85143618616
- ISSN
- 0011-3921
- DOI
- 10.1177/00113921221141472
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.
- id
- 27480023-634e-4a55-a7f2-b5c891ef95b1
- date added to LUP
- 2023-01-06 23:22:48
- date last changed
- 2024-01-09 15:47:52
@article{27480023-634e-4a55-a7f2-b5c891ef95b1,
abstract = {{<p>In what ways are meetings a social form? How are meetings organized and how do organizations structure meetings to produce consensus around visions of the future? In this article, planning meetings, which gather representatives from the regional Public Transport Authority and the municipalities involved in public transport planning in Stockholm, Sweden, is probed as a social form. By structuring the meetings as collaborative planning processes, the Public Transport Authority’s ambition is to draw on the municipalities’ multiplicity of experiences and views but then arrive at a consensus, on which a strategic document is produced. However, these meetings are perplexing as a social form. While expectations of their outcomes vary, dialogues in the meetings are boxed-in as they follow standardized protocols for agendas, discussions, and decision points. Planned meetings, as this article shows, are an undertheorized aspect of attempts at future-making among formally independent bureaucracies. The article concludes by proposing that deliberative ideals in bureaucratic settings allude to deliberative bureaucracy through the social form of planned meetings.</p>}},
author = {{Paulsson, Alexander}},
issn = {{0011-3921}},
keywords = {{Deliberative bureaucracy; dialogue; meetings; public transport; social form}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{7}},
pages = {{1217--1234}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Current Sociology}},
title = {{Planned meetings : Multiplicity, boxed-in dialogues, and deliberative bureaucracy as social form}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00113921221141472}},
doi = {{10.1177/00113921221141472}},
volume = {{71}},
year = {{2023}},
}