Planning in the face of power

"This book provides a systematic reformulation of the politics of professional practice in the arena of city planning, public policy making, and public administration and management. It has immediate implications for the study of administration and management and for students of administration and planning in schools of social work, education, and public health. While focusing concretely on problems of planning practice (e.g. planners' sources of influence, their difficulties of listening critically, their understandings of the politics of organizations), Planning in the Face of Power brings to bear a wide range of theoretical insights and so integrates social and political theory with the demands of actual practice. Accordingly, the book will be important to practitioners who seek to understand the pressures they face at work as well as social theorists who wish to integrate theory and practice more powerfully, but will also appeal to the general reader interested in gaining an understanding of the practice of planning in the face of the realities of social equality and power."--Provided by publisher.

Includes index.

pt. 1. Recognize problems, seize opportunities -- 1. The challenges of planning practice -- 2. What do planning analysts do? : planning and policy analysis as organizing -- -- pt. 2. To be rational, be political -- 3. Planning in the face of power -- 4. The politics of muddling through -- -- pt. 3. Anticipate organizational power and conflict -- 5. Three views of planning organizations -- 6. Planning in the face of conflict : mediated negotiation strategies in practice -- -- pt. 4. Focus on what counts : planning and design as practical communicative action -- 7. Listening : the social policy of everyday life -- 8. Designing as making sense together -- -- pt. 5. Use planning theory to anticipate and respond to problems of practice -- 9. Understanding planning practice -- 10. Supplement on planning education : teaching planning practice.