IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/policy/v57y2024i4d10.1007_s11077-024-09549-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performing policy conflict: A dramaturgical analysis of public participation in contentious urban planning projects

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Roeck

    (University of Antwerp)

  • Wouter Dooren

    (University of Antwerp)

Abstract

Whether endemic or overt, conflict is an intrinsic part of policymaking. Public participation promises to give a place to those conflicts in a more inclusive and productive way. Previous research has primarily focused on the substance and discourse of conflict, studying what conflicts are about and how actors give meaning to conflicts. Less attention has been given to how conflicts are enacted and performed when citizens and the state meet. Using a dramaturgical approach, this paper explores how the performances, staging practices, and scenography of public participation influence policy conflicts. The research concentrates on two contentious urban projects in the Belgian city of Genk, employing ethnographic observation of participatory moments to expose the performative elements of participation. The analysis uncovers the artifacts and communicative methods that narrow the conflict scope, determine the micro-politics of the participatory meetings, and influence whose voices are heard. Using a dramaturgical analysis framework sheds light on some underexplored, micro-level dynamics of participatory efforts that may limit the scope of policy conflict. Understanding these micro-mechanisms is essential for a more inclusive and equitable urban transformation policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Roeck & Wouter Dooren, 2024. "Performing policy conflict: A dramaturgical analysis of public participation in contentious urban planning projects," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 57(4), pages 761-785, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:57:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s11077-024-09549-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11077-024-09549-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11077-024-09549-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11077-024-09549-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wolf, Eva & Van Dooren, Wouter, 2021. "Fatal remedies. How dealing with policy conflict can backfire in a context of trust-erosion," SocArXiv z5uxy, Center for Open Science.
    2. Erik Swyngedouw, 2009. "The Antinomies of the Postpolitical City: In Search of a Democratic Politics of Environmental Production," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 601-620, September.
    3. Eefje Cuppen, 2012. "Diversity and constructive conflict in stakeholder dialogue: considerations for design and methods," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 45(1), pages 23-46, March.
    4. Wolf, Eva & Van Dooren, Wouter, 2017. "How Policies Become Contested: A Spiral of Imagination and Evidence in a Large Infrastructure Project," SocArXiv 8grp4, Center for Open Science.
    5. Rikki John Dean, 2018. "Counter-Governance: Citizen Participation Beyond Collaboration," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(1), pages 180-188.
    6. E. E. A. Wolf & Wouter Van Dooren, 2017. "How policies become contested: a spiral of imagination and evidence in a large infrastructure project," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(3), pages 449-468, September.
    7. Christopher M. Weible & Tanya Heikkila, 2017. "Policy Conflict Framework," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(1), pages 23-40, March.
    8. Imrat Verhoeven & Tamara Metze, 2022. "Heated policy: policy actors’ emotional storylines and conflict escalation," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(2), pages 223-237, June.
    9. Simon Fink & Eva Ruffing & Tobias Burst & Sara Katharina Chinnow, 2023. "Emotional citizens, detached interest groups? The use of emotional language in public policy consultations," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(3), pages 469-497, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jennifer A. Kagan & Tanya Heikkila & Christopher M. Weible & Duncan Gilchrist & Ramiro Berardo & Hongtao Yi, 2023. "Advancing scholarship on policy conflict through perspectives from oil and gas policy actors," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(3), pages 573-594, September.
    2. Imrat Verhoeven & Tamara Metze, 2022. "Heated policy: policy actors’ emotional storylines and conflict escalation," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(2), pages 223-237, June.
    3. van Helden, Jan & Caperchione, Eugenio & Pattaro, Anna Francesca, 2023. "Use and non-use of accounting information: The case of controversial projects in public and non-profit settings," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Iris Stucki & Fritz Sager, 2018. "Aristotelian framing: logos, ethos, pathos and the use of evidence in policy frames," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(3), pages 373-385, September.
    5. Maarten Loopmans & Linde Smits & Anneleen Kenis, 2022. "Rethinking environmental justice: capability building, public knowledge and the struggle against traffic-related air pollution," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(3), pages 705-723, May.
    6. Fienitz, Meike & Siebert, Rosemarie, 2023. "Latent, collaborative, or escalated conflict? Determining causal pathways for land use conflicts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    7. Graham Haughton & Phil McManus, 2022. "Becoming WestConnex – Becoming Sydney: Object-oriented politics, contested storylines and the multi-scalar imaginaries of building a motorway network in Sydney, Australia," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(4), pages 913-932, June.
    8. Jennifer Dodge & Tamara Metze, 2024. "Approaches to policy framing: deepening a conversation across perspectives," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 57(2), pages 221-256, June.
    9. Lars Dorren & Wouter Dooren, 2021. "Chameleonic knowledge: a study of ex ante analysis in large infrastructure policy processes," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(2), pages 289-312, June.
    10. Wolf, Eva & Van Dooren, Wouter, 2021. "Fatal remedies. How dealing with policy conflict can backfire in a context of trust-erosion," SocArXiv z5uxy, Center for Open Science.
    11. Coppens, Tom & Van Dooren, Wouter & Thijssen, Peter, 2018. "Public opposition and the neighborhood effect: How social interaction explains protest against a large infrastructure project," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 633-640.
    12. Andrew Clarke & Lynda Cheshire, 2018. "The post-political state? The role of administrative reform in managing tensions between urban growth and liveability in Brisbane, Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(16), pages 3545-3562, December.
    13. Setiawan, Andri D. & Cuppen, Eefje, 2013. "Stakeholder perspectives on carbon capture and storage in Indonesia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1188-1199.
    14. Kleemann, Janina & Struve, Berenike & Spyra, Marcin, 2023. "Conflicts in urban peripheries in Europe," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    15. Abood Khaled Alamoudi & Rotimi Boluwatife Abidoye & Terence Y. M. Lam, 2022. "The Impact of Stakeholders’ Management Measures on Citizens’ Participation Level in Implementing Smart Sustainable Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Aryana Soliz, 2021. "Creating Sustainable Cities through Cycling Infrastructure? Learning from Insurgent Mobilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    17. Tanya Heikkila & Christopher M. Weible, 2017. "Unpacking the intensity of policy conflict: a study of Colorado’s oil and gas subsystem," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(2), pages 179-193, June.
    18. Simon Fink & Eva Ruffing & Tobias Burst & Sara Katharina Chinnow, 2023. "Emotional citizens, detached interest groups? The use of emotional language in public policy consultations," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(3), pages 469-497, September.
    19. Ross Beveridge & Philippe Koch, 2017. "The post-political trap? Reflections on politics, agency and the city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(1), pages 31-43, January.
    20. Laurence Troy, 2018. "The politics of urban renewal in Sydney’s residential apartment market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(6), pages 1329-1345, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:57:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s11077-024-09549-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.