A hybrid relational approach to policy analysis and policy making

Abstract

Thesis presented at the Departament de Psicologia Social of the UAB by Marc Grau-Solés. Supervised by Professor Lupicinio Íñiguez and Professor Joan Subirats. This thesis presents new perspectives opened by actor-network theory for policy analysis and policy making. The main idea is that managing complexity and uncertainty involves recognizing and dealing with multiple and hybrid realities. Drawing on inputs from Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the city is explored as a multiple urban assemblage. ANT allows thinking the city as a heterogeneous and decentred object. The notion of urban assemblages is introduced to account for the multiple and hybrid nature of the city. Besides, the dichotomous nature of the modern notion of politics is analyzed. Finally, through the analysis of substantive consequences of citizen participation in urban policies a new hybrid notion of citizen participation and policy processes is proposed.