Negotiating polyvocal strategies : Re-reading de Certeau through the lens of urban planning in South Africa
(2019) In Urban Studies 57(12). p.2440-2455- Abstract
- The Practice of Everyday Life (de Certeau M (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press) has become a canonical text in urban studies, with de Certeau’s idea of tactics having been widely deployed to understand and theorise the everyday. Tactics of resistance were contrasted with the strategies of the powerful, but the ways in which these strategies are operationalised were left ambiguous by de Certeau and have remained undertheorised since. We address this lacuna through an examination of the planning profession in South Africa as a lieu propre– a strategic territory with considerable power to shape urban environments. Based on a large interview data set examining practitioner attitudes toward the... (More)
- The Practice of Everyday Life (de Certeau M (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press) has become a canonical text in urban studies, with de Certeau’s idea of tactics having been widely deployed to understand and theorise the everyday. Tactics of resistance were contrasted with the strategies of the powerful, but the ways in which these strategies are operationalised were left ambiguous by de Certeau and have remained undertheorised since. We address this lacuna through an examination of the planning profession in South Africa as a lieu propre– a strategic territory with considerable power to shape urban environments. Based on a large interview data set examining practitioner attitudes toward the state of the profession in South Africa, this paper argues that the strategies of the powerful are themselves subject to negotiation. We trace connections with de Certeau’s earlier work to critique the idea that strategies are univocal. We do this by examining how the interests of different powerful actors can come into conflict, using the planning profession as an exemplar of how opposing strategies must be mediated in order to secure changes in society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4087f284-a99b-4b5e-bbf7-5ecb81bba707
- author
- Andres, Lauren ; Jones, Phil ; Denoon-Stevens, Stuart Paul and Melgaço, Lorena LU
- publishing date
- 2019-10-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- De Certeau, planning, policy, strategies, theory
- in
- Urban Studies
- volume
- 57
- issue
- 12
- pages
- 2440 - 2455
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85074847579
- ISSN
- 0042-0980
- DOI
- 10.1177/0042098019875423
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 4087f284-a99b-4b5e-bbf7-5ecb81bba707
- date added to LUP
- 2021-08-30 16:59:04
- date last changed
- 2022-04-27 03:31:28
@article{4087f284-a99b-4b5e-bbf7-5ecb81bba707,
abstract = {{The Practice of Everyday Life (de Certeau M (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press) has become a canonical text in urban studies, with de Certeau’s idea of tactics having been widely deployed to understand and theorise the everyday. Tactics of resistance were contrasted with the strategies of the powerful, but the ways in which these strategies are operationalised were left ambiguous by de Certeau and have remained undertheorised since. We address this lacuna through an examination of the planning profession in South Africa as a lieu propre– a strategic territory with considerable power to shape urban environments. Based on a large interview data set examining practitioner attitudes toward the state of the profession in South Africa, this paper argues that the strategies of the powerful are themselves subject to negotiation. We trace connections with de Certeau’s earlier work to critique the idea that strategies are univocal. We do this by examining how the interests of different powerful actors can come into conflict, using the planning profession as an exemplar of how opposing strategies must be mediated in order to secure changes in society.}},
author = {{Andres, Lauren and Jones, Phil and Denoon-Stevens, Stuart Paul and Melgaço, Lorena}},
issn = {{0042-0980}},
keywords = {{De Certeau; planning; policy; strategies; theory}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
number = {{12}},
pages = {{2440--2455}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Urban Studies}},
title = {{Negotiating polyvocal strategies : Re-reading de Certeau through the lens of urban planning in South Africa}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0042098019875423}},
doi = {{10.1177/0042098019875423}},
volume = {{57}},
year = {{2019}},
}