Quasi-Quisling: co-design and the assembly of collaborateurs

Abstract

In recent years, various critiques of participative approaches to design processes have been presented. Participatory urban planning has been subject to a specific form of criticism, which posits that such processes are ‘post-political’, inasmuch as they merely legitimise the power and political agendas of elites. In reviewing a case of participatory urban planning in Gothenburg, Sweden, this article suggests that actor-network theory can be operationalised as an alternative means to account for democratic deficiencies of co-design practices. It thus uses the concept of translation to describe how the original interests of participants may be betrayed, as successive translations cause objectives to drift. It also suggests that the key agency in these unfortunate betrayals is not human, but emerges through the material modes of collaboration. The article thus endeavours to contribute to the debate on how co-design processes may become more effective means to democratise urban planning and design.

Keywords::

• urban planning
• post-politics
• actor-network theory
• translation
• collaborateurs
• Quisling

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Gothenburg City Planning Office for its expediency when gathering the archival data, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier drafts of this text. During the preparation of the article, Karl Palmås has benefited greatly by the support from the Gothenburg-based centre for sustainable urban development Mistra Urban Futures.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.