Methods

This section details the methodological approaches we use in our analyses. From statistical techniques to research design, we believe in transparency about how we derive our insights and the limitations of our methods.

Power, Planning, and the City: A Foucaultian Perspective

Essays

Urban Design

Political Theory

This analysis utilizes Michel Foucault’s seminal theories on power, knowledge, and the subject to critically investigate modern urban environments and the multifaceted role of urban planning. It delves into how Foucaultian concepts, such as disciplinary power, governmentality, and the power/knowledge nexus, are materially and socially embedded within the city’s fabric and its governance. Through an in-depth examination of the contemporary walkable city ideal, the paper uncovers the complex and often subtle power dynamics, potential for exclusion, and normalizing effects that can be inherent in well-intentioned planning initiatives. The work ultimately advocates for a paradigm shift in urban planning, urging a move beyond traditional models of control towards approaches that actively foster practices of freedom, empowering citizens to shape their own lived environments.

Democratic Legitimacy despite climate Emergency

Essays

Realism

Theory

Climate Crisis

Ethics

Activism

Philosophy

Authoritarianism

Under the impression of an unfolding climate emergency, political theorists might be propelled to reconsider how they want to construe normative legitimacy. Should not “ensuring survival” be the ultimate benchmark? Such a case has recently been made by Ross Mittiga. Within a political realist framework, he explicitly defends eco-authoritarian governance. In this essay, I take a close look at the proposal, with the overall aim of assessing whether there could actually be a solid case for authoritarianism, following political realist commitments. I provide two main findings: Firstly, the connection drawn between political realism and authoritarianism is limited in scope, since it may only plausibly represent a rather specific variety of political realism, characterized by a narrow reading of Bernard Williams. Secondly, I find that Mittiga’s authoritarian construal of legitimacy, essentially based on the identification of ensuring survival as the ultimate foundation of political legitimacy, is not even inherently plausible. The key point is that ensuring survival depends on the prior condition of political leaders possessing the information to do so.