Reflections on Phronetic Social Science: A Dialogue between Stewart Clegg, Bent Flyvbjerg, and Mark Haugaard

Journal of Political Power, June 2014

64 Pages Posted: 1 Jul 2014 Last revised: 8 Jul 2014

See all articles by Bent Flyvbjerg

Bent Flyvbjerg

University of Oxford - Said Business School; IT University of Copenhagen; St Anne's College, University of Oxford

Stewart R. Clegg

University of Technology, Sydney - School of Management; Nova School of Business and Economics

Mark Haugaard

University of Galway

Date Written: June 1, 2014

Abstract

Clegg, Flyvbjerg and Haugaard debate the strengths and weaknesses of a Foucauldian-Nietzschean critique of power compared to a tradition exemplified by Lukes and Habermas. Flyvbjerg and Clegg argue that the pursuit of universal normative principles and of rationality without power may lead to oppressive utopian thinking. Drawing on the Aristotelian tradition of phronesis, they propose a contextualist form of critique that situates itself in analysis of local practices to render domination transparent and open to change. While Haugaard accepts there cannot be a universal view that transcends the particularities of context, he argues that the phronetic approach is crypto-normative because it implicitly presupposes unacknowledged liberal normative premises; moreover, any use of ‘truth’ as a criterion follows Enlightenment principles of verification.

Keywords: phronesis, power, truth, domination, critique

Suggested Citation

Flyvbjerg, Bent and Clegg, Stewart R. and Haugaard, Mark, Reflections on Phronetic Social Science: A Dialogue between Stewart Clegg, Bent Flyvbjerg, and Mark Haugaard (June 1, 2014). Journal of Political Power, June 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2460651

Bent Flyvbjerg (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Said Business School ( email )

Oxford
Great Britain

IT University of Copenhagen ( email )

Copenhagen
Denmark

St Anne's College, University of Oxford ( email )

Oxford
United Kingdom

Stewart R. Clegg

University of Technology, Sydney - School of Management ( email )

Room C401A
Corner Quay Street & Ultimo Road
Sydney 2007, New South Wales
Australia
9514 3934 (Phone)
9514 3602 (Fax)

Nova School of Business and Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal

Mark Haugaard

University of Galway ( email )

University Road
Galway, Co. Kildare
Ireland

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