PUBLIC NORMS AND ASPIRATIONS
The Turn to Institutions in Action
© 2018 – Routledge
The aspirations of individuals, organizations, and states, and their perceptions of problems and possible solutions circulate fast in this instantaneous society. Yet, the deliberation of the underlying public norms seems to escape the attention of the public. Institutions enable people to have reliable expectations of one another even when they are unsure of each other's aspirations and purposes. Public norms enable people to act under conditions of increasing uncertainty. To fulfill this role in society, institutions need enhancement, maintenance, and innovation.
Public Norms and Aspirations aims to improve the methodology of planning research and practice by exploring the co-evolution of institutional innovation and the philosophy of pragmatism in processes of action. As most attention in planning research and planning practices goes to the pragmatic approaches of aspirations and problem solving, the field is awaiting an upgrade of institutional perspectives. This book aims to explore the interaction of institutional and pragmatic thought and to suggest how these two approaches might be integrated and applied in successful planning research. Searching this combination at the interface of sociology, planning, and law, Salet opens a unique niche in the existing planning literature.
In june 2018, this monograph will be followed by a reader on Institutions and Planning in Action, edited by Willem Salet. Here, different ways are explored to combine the institutional perspective with pragmatic approaches of planning in 25 contributions.
- W.Salet (2018). Public Norms and Aspirations: The turn to Institutions in Action. New York: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Public-Norms-and-Aspirations-The-Turn-to-Institutions-in-Action/Salet/p/book/9781138084957
- W. Salet (ed.) (forthc. June 2018). The Routledge Handbook on Institutions and Planning in Action. New York: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Institutions-and-Planning-in-Action/Salet/p/book/9781138085732.
