Градска политика и дискурсивна теория. Политически, технократични и обикновени форми на действието
Urban politics and post-foundational discourse theory. Political, technocratic and ordinary forms of asoction

Summary/Abstract: This paper introduces a definition of urban politics which breaks with the tradition of restrictive concepts of the type “urban politics is what the city politicians and activist citizens do”. I propose instead a radical democratisation of the notion: urban politics as the mutual negotiation of urban coexistence by all. Theoretically, this is based on Ernesto Laclau’s Essex School of Post-Foundational Discourse Theory. In terms of social critique, such a move brings recognition for the ethical responsibility inherent to the actions of all social actors. This includes the routine work of practitioners in urban development and governance (planners, architects, economists, administrators, etc) who typically see themselves as working on technical tasks and doing so on the basis of objective methods and impartial values. Implications are discussed in relation to ethnography of the management of municipal open-air marketplaces in Sofia, Bulgaria. The paper critiques and advances Laclau’s Discourse Theory. Glynos and Howarth’s analytical scheme of social and political practices and logics is shown to be inadequate for research applications. The notion of the technocratic form of action is introduced and analysed. It is of interest because it links different contexts that are in a relation of power asymmetry. This is precisely the setup that poses difficulties for Post-Foundational Discourse Theory.

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