Dialogical Planning in a Fragmented Society: Critically Liberal, Pragmatic, Incremental

The culmination of a critical study of neo-pragmatism philosophy and its application to planning, Dialogical Planning in a Fragmented Society begins with philosopher Stanley M. Stein's examination of neo-pragmatism and his thoughts on how it can be useful in the field of environmental design-specifically, how it can be applied to planning procedures and problems. Neo-pragmatism is an approach that has been, in the past, best expressed or implied in the writing of Hilary Putnam, Richard Rorty, and, in particular, Donald Davidson, John Rawls, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Thomas L. Harper furthers this tradition by providing the context for this theoretical application from his academic background in economics and management as well as his practical experience with political decision-making processes, community planning, and economic development. The result is a fresh synthesis of ideas-a new approach to thinking about planning theory and its implications for, and relationship with, practice. Philosopher Michael Walzer has asserted that "philosophy reflects and articulates the political culture of its time, and politics presents and enacts the arguments of philosophy." Similarly, the authors view planning theory as planning reflected upon in tranquility, away from the tumult of battle, and planning practice as planning theory acted out in the confusion of the trenches. Each changes the other in a dynamic way, and the authors demonstrate the intimate and inextricable link between them.

Table of Contents:
Introduction I PLANNING SHOULD GIVE UP THE MODERNIST PARADIGM 1 The Crisis in Modernist Planning 2 Modernistic ("Rational") Planning, PLANNING SHOULD BE PRAGMATIC 3 Two Responses to Modernism: Postmodernism or Neopragmatism 4 Out of the Postmodern Abyss: Postmodernist Themes III PLANNING SHOULD BE CRI'TICALLY LIBERAL 5 Classical Liberalism and Planning 6 A Critical Liberal Perspective DIALOGICAL PLANNING IN A FRAGMENTED SOCIETY 7 Pragmatic Incrementalist Planning IV PLANNING SHOULD RECOGNIZE AN EMERGING WAY 8 A Dialogical Planning Approach 9 A Dialogical Planning Approach: Critiques and Questions 10 Dialogical Planning in Practice V PLANNING SHOULD AvOID MODERNIST AND POSTMODERNIST TRAPS VI The Search for Clear Categories and Universal Principles 12 The Radical Paradigm Shift 13 The Multicultural Trap (Relativism) 14 The Rejection of Theory 15 Power, Trust, and Planning 16 Conclusion: Key Strengths of Dialogical Planning