Course Description
This introductory course is structured to cultivate the key sensibilities necessary for effective planning practice in newly industrializing countries. By the word "sensibility" I mean an awareness of key developmental issues, interdependent causalities, and anticipated as well as unanticipated consequences of social action which mark most planning efforts. The word sensibility is used also to signify that there is no generic clear cut and "right answer" to any developmental problem. In fact, one characteristic of an effective planner is that he/she does not rely upon standard theories of action; instead, he/she utilizes his/her cultivated sensibilities to craft a specific planning strategy at a specific moment in a specific place and implement it in a particular way to fit the task at hand. In cultivating such sensibilities, we will use examples from varying institutional settings, ranging from the local to the international levels, and probe how the particularities of each setting calls for an awareness of particular institutional opportunities as well as constraints which planners need to take into account in devising planning strategies.
Understanding and appreciating such particularities of each setting is the single most important skill a planner requires for effective practice. This course addresses this challenge by structuring group deliberations among the students around eight topics each with a central question. The course begins with a critical review of the notions of "progress" which is at the heart of the profession of planning. The key question here is: Is progress a western notion which emerged during the Enlightenment, or, can we trace the notion of progress to earlier times, and to non-western political/social formations? The second question we will focus on is: What are the lessons of history in terms of development planning efforts since World War II when decolonization led to national/regional/local planning efforts by newly independent nation states? This discussion will focus on the assumptions underlying the interconnected efforts at economic, political and social modernization, which collectively constitute the notion of progress, and the extent to which such assumptions need to be modified in light of the planning experience of the last fifty years.
The second section of this course is focused on various criticisms of planning, and responses to such criticisms, which draw on empirical evidences of "relative successes" of planning in newly industrializing countries. We begin with criticisms of planning at the end of World War II primarily by political theorists who perceived planning as leading to a loss of personal liberty. This is followed by criticisms of planning during the Cold War - particularly, the ideological criticism of the "pursuit of the ideal" which motivated many planning efforts. We then review criticism of planning by Proto-Anarchists, Neo-Classical Economists, and Neo-Marxist political sociologists, and subject such criticisms to empirical verifications to ultimately tease out a sense of hope that planning, however faulty, matters in guiding developmental efforts.
The third section of the course is focused on various institutional settings, ranging from bureaucracies to community driven efforts, within which planning is practiced. The questions that guide the deliberations in this section are: What are the unique institutional features of each setting, and are such features undergoing modification and changes to adapt to specific developmental needs of our times? This is achieved by analyzing cooperative as well as conflicting planning efforts by different organizations ranging from the public to private, non-governmental, and community driven collective action. Through such analysis, the sensibility we want to cultivate is that organizational understanding is essential for effective planning practice.
The fourth section of the course is devoted to the cultivation of a sensibility of how planning decisions are made, or, as March argues, how decisions happen. This section draws on the expanding literature on procedural planning theories - particularly, the Rational Comprehensive Model - and subjects such normative models to empirical tests drawing on examples of planning practices. The focus on planning decisions, however, does not restrict us to review only planning efforts prior to implementation. Instead, implementation processes are scrutinized to understand why certain policies, programs and projects are better implemented than others. What are the institutional mechanisms available to planners for ensuring good implementations of plans? This discussion relies particularly on cases of policy and institutional reforms which mark planning efforts in most newly industrializing countries struggling to meet the current challenges posed by globalization of capital, trade, and ideas.
The fifth section of the course is devoted to the cultivation of "political savvy" and "legal awareness" which too are essential for effective planning practices. By drawing on various theories of the State, and examples of political maneuvering by skillful planners, we intend to tease out the factors that practicing planners must take into account in understanding the relationship between planning and politics. Similarly, by reviewing the evolving nature of the legal domain within which planning must operate, from the local to the international level, we will attempt to sharpen the sensibility of the social and political construction of legality and, at times, the need for the reconstruction of legal arrangements for delivering social justice through planning.
The sixth part of the course is devoted to the currently raging debates on globalization and its impact on planning capabilities of territorially based political entities. The objective is to scrutinize in detail various arguments that propose that globalization has made traditional planning efforts obsolete and ineffective. By drawing on empirical studies of effective planning efforts, this section cultivates the sensibility that, indeed, planning efforts need to be reformed to suit the particular demands of globalization, but planning need not be simply reactive and defensive in the face of globalization's challenges.
The course will conclude with a review of what we consider some key characteristics of effective planners - namely: curiosity about how developmental efforts unfold; skepticism of dominant paradigms of explanations from both the right and left of the ideological spectrum; mastery of multiple forms of argumentation which convince and inspire various constituencies; an ability to continuously learn from unanticipated effects of planning efforts; and, most importantly, reliance on ethical principles which are self-constructed through "reflections in action" that help planners deal with ethical dilemmas which emerge due to social, economic and political changes.
Course Requirement
Classroom deliberations based on the assigned readings is the central requirement of this course; because only through such deliberations can we hope to cultivate the sensibilities necessary for effective planning practice. There will be only two written assignments. One will be assigned at the beginning of the course on "The Notion of Progress" which guides our thinking of planning. We want to trace the multiple facets of the complicated idea of progress by focusing, not on ourselves, but on the visions of policy makers in countries we are most familiar with. Please select an individual who you consider to have played a leadership role in shaping the notion of progress and planning in the country you are most familiar with. Analyze the various components of his/her vision of progress, and share with us your understanding why that person envisioned progress in that particular way. This assignment should not be more than five pages double-spaced.
The second assignment is a full blown term paper (20-25 pages plus references, etc.) in which you are expected to probe and discuss in depth one particular planning sensibility you think you need to cultivate the most for effective planning practice. Drawing on the extensive references provided for each section of the course, select one section and a particular sensibility - may that be political savvy, legal awareness, or organizational understanding - and describe how your thinking on this aspect of planning expertise has changed and evolved over the semester. To do this you should first state how you thought about this aspect at the beginning of the semester, and then explain what led you to change your views, and, finally, what are the questions you may be asking yourself by the end of the semester. In writing this self-reflective essay, please use evidences and examples, as many as possible, in support of your argument. You can draw on your own work experiences, others' experiences, and evidences provided in the references. The key point to note is: I want to understand your intellectual trajectory and will grade you on the complexity of your journey and how well you are able to capture your own thoughts in writing.