Stimulating embodied intersubjectivities: two participatory experiments in Antwerp North, Belgium

ABSTRACT

This paper argues how communicative planning approaches, as one of the most dominant conceptualisations of participatory planning, often ignore the embodied dimensions of participation as a socio-political learning processes. To do so, the paper theoretically traces why a Habermasian conceptualisation of political intersubjectivity fails to democratise planning processes and turns to an alternative Mouffean framework where coproductive methods are conceptualised as public pedagogic interventions, allowing for different meanings to be created and shared in a dialogical process. Based on an analysis of two experiments the authors have conducted, some lessons are drawn on how specific methods can be designed to stimulate more embodied forms of intersubjectivity between involved actors, while avoiding top-down consensus-making. In this way, the analysis demonstrates how such methods stimulate participants to share experiences, while orienting the discussion in a spatialised direction and creating a space where the ambivalence of place is effectively stimulated.

KEYWORDS:

• Participatory planning
• place-making
• intersubjective learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Antwerpen aan ‘t Woord vzw is a non-profit learning network of people and organisations striving to build ‘a culture of participation’ in local urban policy.

2. Samenlevingsopbouw Antwerpen vzw is an autonomous non-profit organisation coordinating community building work in Antwerp.

3. Master students of Civil Engineering Architecture as part of a course in Sociology taught by the two authors, 2nd and 6th of march 2013 and 28th of March and 2nd of April 2014.

4. Endeavour is a professional research office focusing on socio-spatial research, process guidance and design consultancy, co-founded and managed by Tim Devos.

5. police officer, representative of shopkeepers association, community worker, neighbourhood manager, urban planner