Communicative Planning Theory: A Foucauldian Assessment

Abstract

Given the philosophical oppositioin that cxisted between Foucault atnd Habermas, a FotucaulIdian reading of communicative planining theory may yield a very critical assessnient of that body of work. Rather than develop such a critique, this paper shows that there are in fact significant points of agreement between communicative theorists and the French historian of modernity, in particular with respect to the relationship between theory and practice. However, Foucault's work raises important questions about the relationship between theory and history, and it challenges Forester, Healey, and others to situate communicative planniing in its historical context and to assess the dangers that it poses for individuals and for society at large.