From Austerity to Abundance?
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This volume explores the ways in which civil society and
governments employ transformative tactics of direct engagement in coordinating
efforts toward the common good. The chapters highlight alternatives that are
philosophically and pragmatically different from neoliberal austerity measures, which reduce coproduction to a cost-saving tactic. Instead of simplistic
load-shedding and unfunded partnerships, collaborative governance and
coproduction increasingly take on characteristics of social movements, wherein
direct citizen engagement in public policy making and administrative
implementation are seen as the collective pursuit of human flourishing and
abundance.
These approaches counter the status quo - both in terms of power dynamics and standard operating procedures. Civil society is increasingly reclaiming its roots in the more informal mechanisms of social movements. As governments reach out to engage these groups, they must develop a new stance toward collaboration - one that sees power as a generative force when shared rather than held through hierarchical or competitive dominance. This book shows how, through this transformation, genuine public value can be produced.
These approaches counter the status quo - both in terms of power dynamics and standard operating procedures. Civil society is increasingly reclaiming its roots in the more informal mechanisms of social movements. As governments reach out to engage these groups, they must develop a new stance toward collaboration - one that sees power as a generative force when shared rather than held through hierarchical or competitive dominance. This book shows how, through this transformation, genuine public value can be produced.
Margaret Stout is an Associate Professor of Public
Administration at West Virginia University, USA. Her research can be found in
numerous journals and books, including Logics
of Legitimacy: Three Traditions of Public Administration Praxis; A Radically Democratic Response to Global
Governance: Dystopian Utopias; and Integrative
Governance: Generating Sustainable Responses to Global Crises.