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Rationality

About: Rationality is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 20459 publications have been published within this topic receiving 617787 citations.


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TL;DR: The authors argue that the use of the communicative theory of Jurgen Habermas in planning theory is problematic, because it hampers an understanding of how power shapes planning.
Abstract: In this paper we argue that the use of the communicative theory of Jurgen Habermas in planning theory is problematic because it hampers an understanding of how power shapes planning. We posit an alternative approach based on the power analytics of Michel Foucault which focuses on ‘what is actually done’, as opposed to Habermas’s focus on ‘what should be done’. We discuss how the Foucauldian stance problematises planning, asking difficult questions about the treatment of legitimacy, rationality, knowledge and spatiality. We conclude that Foucault offers a type of analytic planning theory which offers better prospects than does Habermas for those interested in understanding and bringing about democratic social change through planning.

249 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2012-Antipode
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how far the outsourcing of former local state responsibilities for public services and urban infrastructure is expressed in the promotion of community gardening in Berlin (Germany) and show the contradictory outcomes: on the one hand, a failing strategy of outsourcing towards residents and the opening up of opportunity structures for other interests.
Abstract: The task for critical urban research is to analyze processes of neoliberalization "on the ground". This paper examines—based on original empirical research—in how far the outsourcing of former local state responsibilities for public services and urban infrastructure is expressed in the promotion of community gardening in Berlin (Germany). It shows the contradictory outcomes: on the one hand, a failing strategy of outsourcing towards residents and the opening up of opportunity structures for other interests. On the other hand it shows how far the emergence of open green spaces maintained by volunteers can only be understood against the background of "roll-back" neoliberal urban politics and that their rationality cannot be separated from "roll-out neoliberalism".

248 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore, from the perspective of the sociology of knowledge, the implicit assumptions underlying the Organizational Learning literature, and to look for alternative ways of conceptualizing learning-working-innovating as non-distinct activities.
Abstract: The phrase `learning in the face of mystery' is borrowed in homage from Barry Turner, who coined it in contrast to `learning in the face of problems', which assumes learning to be voluntaristic, always functional to the organization, synonymous with change. The shift from the one to the other resides in an aesthetic choice between rationality and relationality. In fact, in spite of the huge amount of literature on organizational learning, there is still very little understanding about organizing as a practice based on a distributed knowledge system. At the same time, the normative/prescriptive discourse on Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization is mobilized as a further means of organizational control. The aim of this paper is to explore, from the perspective of the sociology of knowledge, the implicit assumptions underlying the Organizational Learning literature, and to look for alternative ways of conceptualizing learning-working-innovating as non-distinct activities. The term `learning-i...

248 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an alternative psychological explanation for bounded rationality is proposed, based on the Yerkes-Dodson law from psychology, where extremes in emotional arousal also contribute to bounded rationality.
Abstract: This paper proposes an alternative psychological explanation for bounded rationality. According to Herbert Simon, bounded rationality arises from human cognitive limitations. Following the suggestion of institutional economist John R. Commons, I argue that extremes in emotional arousal also contribute to bounded rationality. This idea is formalized and developed using the Yerkes–Dodson law from psychology. Examples from the popular press and the academic literatures of law, management and economics are presented to illustrate the impact of this type of bounded rationality on human behavior.

247 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023921
20221,963
2021645
2020689
2019682
2018753