Abstract
This article examines how “design rationality” could help remediate the controversy over environmental degradation. Drawing on the case of designing sustainable forms of traffic management, it argues that this will only be effective to a limited degree. “Policy conversation” does indeed take place but within a coalition of actions that pushes a particular set of solutions. This facilitates due procedure but erodes political legitimacy, thus potentially reproducing an intractable controversy. The article suggests a five-phase model of democratic control as an alternative.
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He primarily works in the field of sociology of technology and environment. He is presently involved in a research project on the social redefinition of mobility, analyzing the translation of sustainable development into new institutional arrangements.
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Hajer, M.A. Politics on the move: The democratic control of the design of sustainable technologies. Knowledge and Policy 8, 26–39 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02832228
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02832228