ABSTRACT
In this contribution, I put into practice what Bob Lake argues for: science as a conversational style. Grounded in Deweyan pragmatism and creative democracy, Lake’s critical urban scholarship on social justice, democratic planning, and inclusive participation is deeply relational and anti-foundational. Lake rejects the foundational belief that conforming to a normative framework of justice is the foundation for producing just planning outcomes. Instead, he contends, to envision and move closer to a socially desired end is to “replace research with conversation” that engages in moral inquiry about justice. I use an empirical example of Taiwan’s use of land development as a monetary source to provide social housing to probe how taking up the role of researcher as inquirer may help us undertake this task. Lake’s scholarship shows how inquiring more deeply and in conversation with multiple publics engagesus in a social process that helps realize public interest and democratic participation.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Kathe Newman and James DeFilippis for their comments. Shortcomings remain the sole responsibility of the author.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).