Description: 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.
Review Quotes:
"Harper and Stein's... engaging style makes their book accessible and informative to a wide range of audiences, from graduate students through fellow academics to reflective practitioners... These ideas and concepts from recent and contemporary philosophy are highly relevant for planning theorists and practitioners alike, and for this Harper and Stein's book makes enlightening reading."
--E.R. Alexander, Planning Theory
"Harper and Stein are seeking to situate dialogical planning in relation to contemporary ideas about epistemology, rational action, deliberative democracy, power, and so on. No other textbook takes postmodernism as seriously as this one. Harper and Stein painstakingly position dialogical planning in relation to the various tenants and characteristics of postmodernism. They do an important job of clarifying why certain intellectual currents in social research do not fit well with communicative planning's critical and liberal orientation... Harper and Stein's book addresses problems and contradictions that have been haunting planning theory at least for the last couple of decades. This includes the modernism/postmodernism debate, the Rawlsian presentation of critical liberalism, the varying approaches to multiculturalism, and critiques of Foucauldian ideas of power. Harper and Stein's treatment of these themes should make the book appealing to a wide range of planning theorists."
--Tore Sager, Journal of Urban Affairs