Neoliberalism and the entrepreneurial subject: Tracking bevirʼs decentered theory of governance

Marshall, Gary S.

doi:10.1108/ijotb-19-03-2016-b008

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…This raises the notion of 'situated agency' (Marshall, 2016). Local authority planners must utilise legislation and policy instruments introduced by central government (even whilst sometimes exploiting ambiguities in them) and must face the materiality of austerity-driven grant cuts leading to fewer planners (even whilst sometimes using changed financial contexts to justify their role).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper seeks to pay such closer attention to the ordinary practices and everyday world of UK local authority planners. Although the notion of opening the 'black box of the state' is not novel, there remains a need to avoid reifying the state (Marshall, 2016) and to undertake the detailed work of attempting to apply such an understanding empirically. Such a task involves focussing on the 'microlevel of institutional agency' (Sartorio et al, 2018: 609) and, in this case, considering how much 'acting space' (Grange, 2014) local authority planners actually have.…”

Section: Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bevir (2013) comments that 'Street-level bureaucrats can resist and thwart initiatives by drawing on their local traditions' (165), whilst Durose (2009) comments on the importance of looking at the everyday work stories of frontline workers. Similarly, Coburn (2016) highlights the continued importance of consideration of agency, questions of which remain fundamental to understanding policy implementation (see also Abdelnour et al, 2017;Bevir and Needham, 2017;Marshall, 2016). Whether Taylor and Kelly's (2006) dismissal of the continued relevance of such a perspective is reasonable can be tested by what Painter calls 'closer attention to the ordinary practices through which the state effects are actualized in daily life .…”

Section: Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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British local authority planners, planning reform and everyday practices within the state

Clifford

2020

Public Policy and Administration

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Reform of the planning system, and the local authority context in which it operates, has been high on the political agenda for all governments in the United Kingdom in the 21st century, reflecting common broader international trends under New Public Management and neoliberalism. Whilst such reforms have been subject to a great deal of academic attention, much of this work has focused on central government perspectives and understands these reforms based on policy documents and Ministerial statements. Whilst revealing important contextual, ideological and intentional imperatives, such perspectives can overlook the way in which reforms are mediated by frontline professionals as they implement them. Drawing on extensive empirical data with British local authority planners considering their reaction to a host of recent reform initiatives such as changes to plan-making, performance targets, austerity and deregulation of planning controls, this paper outlines the importance of a focus on this everyday scale of governance. Arguing for a decentred approach, understanding the situated agency of professional planners, the paper concludes that policy implementation remains a messy process and that notions of professional identity and narratives about what it means to be a ‘good planner’ remain important in understanding reform specifically and ‘the state’ more generally.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%