Reflexivity and Political Participation a Study of Re-Embedding Strategies Engberg, Lars
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Roskilde University Reflexivity and Political Participation a study of re-embedding strategies Engberg, Lars Publication date: 2000 Citation for published version (APA): Engberg, L. (2000). Reflexivity and Political Participation: a study of re-embedding strategies. Roskilde Universitet. FS & P Ph.D. afhandlinger No. 34 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain. • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 09. Oct. 2021 Lars A. Engberg Reflexivity and Political Participation - a study of re-embedding strategies Department of Social Sciences Roskilde University Reflexivity and Political Participation - a study of re-embedding strategies 0 Lars A. Engberg Ph.D. thesis no. 24/2000 Ph.D. series “Comparative Welfare Systems” Department of Social Sciences Roskilde University Front page: Jan Sivertsen. 1998. Title: Figur-projektion. Layout: Communikanten Print: Vester Kopi ISSN 0909-9174 ISBN 87-987996-0-6 Ph.D. thesis in Public Administration defended at the Department of Social Sciences, Roskilde University, June 19,2000,10.15 am. 2 Preface This Ph.D. study has emerged out of a long-term interest in citizens’ political participation, and the ever-shifting boundaries between structures of governance and the modes of people’s everyday life in late modernity. Writing the thesis I have been affiliated with the Centre for Local Institutional Research (CLIF) at the Department of Social Sciences, Roskilde University, and the dissertation is defended at this department. I would lie to thank Thomas Boje, who was my supervisor during the fit year until he moved to Ume%, and Peter Bogason, who has been very supportive throughout the entire process, Peter has the special gift of urging you to go on without showing his concern at all! I have also very much enjoyed the stimulating company of the CLIF-group and the ongoing discussions with the clif-hangers K5re Thomsen, Sandra Kensen, Anne Reff Pedersen, Helle Sundgaard Andersen, Eva Sorensen, Hanne Warming, Johan Smed, Karina Sehested, Allan Dreyer Hansen as well as everybody else in the group. Also thanks to Lars Hulgaard, with whom I had the privilege of conducting the first bottom-up study in Grantoften. A special thanks to Vincent Ostrom at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Bloomington University. As one of the many visiting scholars 1995-96 I enjoyed very much the weekly exchanges of memos we had with Vincent on the topics of institutional theory, constitutional choice and democratic reform. Though I have chosen to work within a somewhat different framework than the one developed in the Workshop, 3 Vincent Ostrom’s work continues to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration with respect to theories of self-governance and citizens’ roles in democratic reform. Finally a deep-felt thanks to my wife Heidi and my daughter Sofie, who have both put up with me throughout the process of writing the dissertation, something which cannot be taken for granted, and a deed for which I am very grateful. Lars A. Engberg Frederiksberg, May 2000. 4 PREFACE 3 1. REFLEXIVITY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 11 Empowerment as reform strategy 13 The reflexive modernization thesis 16 Participation as reflexive ‘re-embedding’ 18 The fragmentation of political agency 19 Research questions and hypothesis 21 Choice of empirical focus in the dissertation 24 Method How to develop a process perspective on reflexivity? 25 Content 27 2. A FRAMEWORK FOR THE ANALYSIS OF RE- EMBEDDING STRATEGIES 31 Reflexive modernization: The general analysis 32 Disembedding and the reflexivity-thesis 35 Wbat is re-embedding? 40 Discussion: Reflexivity and everyday life 43 Critiques and paradoxes 46 Reflexivity as a framework for the analysis of participation strategies 47 Reembedding at the level of individual participation strategies 41 Re-embedding at the level of collective participation strategies 49 Towards a research strategy 51 Endogenous and radical reflexivity 54 3. REFLEXIVITY AND EPISTEMOLOGY - SOME CHALLENGES 57 Part 1. Getting access (endogenous reflexivity) 58 5 The death of epistemology 58 Epistemology revived consensus about impersonal worlds 64 Part 2. Creating distance (radical reflexivity) 69 Critical Realism 70 Social reality is not identical with the conditions of its intelligibility 70 A relational actor-structme model 75 Research strategy 76 A critical realist methodology: the morphogenetic approach 80 Figure 3 -double morphogenesis 81 Reflexivity from the inside and from the outside 86 The inside view 88 The outsidk view 89 4. RESEARCH STRATEGY AND METHOD 91 From reflexive modernisation theory to empirical analysis 91 Research question and hypothesis 92 Reflections on method in relation to theoretical perspective 94 The level of empirical research 96 Step 1. The mapping of network interaction (inside view) 96 Step 2. Evaluating the network study (outside view) 96 Step 3. Individual participation narratives (inside view) 97 Step 4. Relating the levels (outside view) 97 Ontology and method 99 Strategies of analysis going through the 4 steps 100 Analysis at the level of individual narratives of participation 101 Analysis at the level of network interaction 104 Evaluating the networks 106 5. THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL GRANTOFTEN BYDELSTING 109 Part 1. The implementation of a community council in Grantoften 109 The constitution phase: negotiating the rules (-1989) 110 Organization: Formal competencies, tasks and funding 111 The vision of the local housing committee: A multilevel 6 democratisation process 113 The public vision: Social networking 114 Bydelstinget and the Information Shop 114 Phase 2 - distributing the roles (1988 - 95) 116 Exploring limits to decentralisation 117 ‘The public vote’ 118 The Catch 22 121 Fighting with the local housing committee 122 A policy initiative: debating the primary school 124 Phase 3: transformation? (1995-) 125 Part 2. Evaluating the process 129 Laying down the rules of the game: Consensus and volnntarism (-1989) 130 Exploring the mandate (1989 - ’95) 131 Exploring the role of the public employees 132 Who governs Grantoften? 134 Reflexive remodelling of rules of local decision making? 136 Renegotiating the statntes (1995 - ’98) 138 6. THE PARTICIPATION NARRATIVES OF SUSANNE, MARIA AND OLE 139 Susanne 139 Problem analysis in terms of social disintegration 140 Life-politics is about pragmatic resource management 141 Trust is a key issue in the learning process 142 The power-issue is secondary to a voluntarist social strategy 143 Participation as social ‘re-embedding’ 144 Maria 145 Perspective: working for the children 145 Strategy aspect as ‘appropriate democratic procedures’ 146 Learning relates to conflict mediation 147 Expertise tbrough involvement 149 Political participation as a strategy to meet people 150 If you stop taking part in democracy it seizes to exist 151 Ole 152 Change-perspective: social dedication amongst people 152 ...and rule-flexibility in the social housing sector 152 7 Barrier: The bingo-mentality 154 Social housing activities a life-style choice 156 On the connection between life-style and governance structure 157 Recapitulation of the Grantoften process 158 Susanne: Pragmatic resource management 160 Maria: The children’s perspective 162 Ole: Rule-flexibility and social development 163 Conclusion: On the connection between life-style and governance shuchue 165 7. THE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY EVE 171 Part 1. Initiating a round-table dialogue on the WO-eco theme 171 The constitution phase: creating the vision (1988-1989) 172 ADAM and EVE 173 EVE goes public 175 The govemmental apparatus takes up the challenge 179 The Zeuthen-Committee 180 The Ministry of Environment 181 EVE celebrates, and starts to reflect upon the vision (1990-) 182 EVE evaluates the process 184 Frustration sets in 186 Meeting with Statistics Denmark 187 Part 2. Evaluating the process 190 Articulating the ecological modernization discourse (1988-90) 190 Questioning ecological modernisation (1990 an onwards) 193 8. THE PARTICIPATION NARRATIVES OF HELLE,ANNE AND ERIK 200 AeUe 200 Change perspective: to link the personal with the social 201 Just saying the words “ internalize externalities” was so nice! 202 Politics is at the level of self-reflective choice 204 A laymans rebellion 205 Individualization and the creation of a personal social space 206 Life-politics: the old feminist slogan of “the private is political” 207 8 Anne 209 Grundtvig and political participation 210 From green to social and ethical accounts 211 An open and well-organised dialogue is essential 211 Personal contacts to the experts throughout the process 212 The spiritnal and religious aspect 213 Networking as strategy 214 Erik 216 From organic demonstration garden to network 216 Asking critical questions 217 Making networks 218 To be able to see connections in practice 220 On the connection