ISBN 0-226-25451-8 LC Class JS6185.A53 F5913 1998 | Dewey Decimal 320.4489/5 21 Originally published 28 February 1998 OCLC 300447950 | |
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Similar Bent Flyvbjerg books, Democracy books | ||
Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice is a 1998 book by Bent Flyvbjerg, who focuses on "the application of critical theory to urban and community development". Flyvbjerg deploys a form of social science he developed in Making Social Science Matter (2001).
Contents
Synopsis
Flyvbjerg focuses on the study of how power influences rationality and democracy. He builds his theory and method based on power studies he observed in several people such as Machiavelli and Max Weber. He specifically highlights Machiavelli's power studies in Florence as a source of influence for the choice of in-depth case studies to understand the dynamics of power and how power enables and constrains rationality and rational government. Flyvbjerg also develops and identifies "ten propositions about rationality and power" that can be used when researching.
Reception
Stewart Clegg states that the book "exemplifies in many ways what is distinctive about Flyvbjerg’s work, as densely textured, ethnographically detailed, and theoretically acute".