Feminist planning in the face of power: from interests and ideologies to institutions and intersections

This chapter examines in three main sections the intellectual and praxiological genealogy of feminist planning praxis in relation to how feminist analyses of power have shaped the planning field. First, it discusses the interface between planning and key feminist theories, their values, power, and ethics. Second, it examines how feminist planning has been institutionalized and practised as a specialized technocratic professional planning subfield. Third, it traces the genealogy and integration of intersectional feminist analyses of power in various planning domains. It demonstrates how both planning and feminist theories share eclectic influences and permeability, easily wedded to various conceptions of power, ideologies and practices. Feminist theories - from liberal feminism to intersectional feminist analyses - have provided analytical insights on power and power relations in state and non-state settings, shaping institutionalized planning practices, particularly in urban, community, and international development spaces. Unlike gender equality planning, struggling to deal with development planning’s “dark side,” intersectional feminist thinking enables planners to imagine multiple centres of intersecting power relations of oppression and privilege affecting their practice in the face of complex realities and identities.