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Part of
Studies of Discourse and Governmentality: New perspectives and methods
Edited by Paul McIlvenny, Julia Zhukova Klausen and Laura Bang Lindegaard
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 66] 2016
► pp. 73–94

Governing citizen engagement

A discourse studies perspective

This chapter sets out to explore tensions between bottom-up and top-down processes from a governmentality perspective. Using a discourse studies approach, we investigate how forms of public participation in a local climate mitigation project can be viewed as an instance of governmentality in the sense of how the conduct of groups and individuals is influenced by other forces and how groups and individuals influence the conduct of others through participation and involvement. This implies that governmentality is analysed as emerging in concrete, situated practices. Simultaneously, we investigate how a governmentality approach may enrich our understanding of public participation, dialogue and involvement, especially on the complex issue of sustainability and climate change mitigation.

Published online: 29 June 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.66.02las
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Websites:

http://www.Energycity.dk
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http://www.Energibyen.dk
accessed on 27 May 2013)
Møller
(2013) [URL], Lars M. Møller, Mayor (accessed on 27 September 2013)

Coding system in transcriptions:

DES
(2009) Interview with the Director of the Energytown Secretariat (DES)
IL
(2009) Invitation letter to citizens
PR
(2009) Press release