Speaker
Description
Planners and policymakers face significant challenges in designing policies that address the myriad planetary crises of the Anthropocene. These challenges arise from the unpredictability and uncertainty of political action (Chakrabarty, 2015; Davoudi, 2016) and the pressing need to tackle the climate crisis and environmental degradation (Davoudi et al., 2013). The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a key policy initiative aimed at reconciling economic development with environmental sustainability. However, critiques of the SDGs highlight their neoliberal underpinnings and sustainability frameworks (Gabay & Ilcan, 2017; Spann, 2016), which rely on essentialised knowledge claims that misalign with the ontological conditions of uncertainty and contingency. Such misalignment risks leading to unpredictable and potentially irreversible outcomes. Addressing this requires reflection on dominant knowledge claims and greater appreciation of marginalised perspectives to foster prudence in policymaking.
This research introduces and explores the concept of reversibility as a normative and practical framework for addressing these challenges. Rooted in the works of Hannah Arendt, Hans Jonas, Hans Morgenthau, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Hartmut Behr, reversibility emphasises the ethical commitment to avoiding irreversible consequences under conditions of uncertainty. The concept is grounded in an ontological commitment to plurality and perspectivity (recognising that spatial and temporal contexts shape knowledge) and stresses the importance of epistemological coherence with these ontological conditions. By adhering to these principles, reversibility critiques essentialised knowledge claims and fosters their deconstruction (Behr, 2017; Davoudi, 2015), and offers normative guidance for reconstructing politics without prescribing specific content, acknowledging the contingent and perspective-conditioned nature of political knowledge claims (Behr, 2019, 2024).
Within planning theory, reversibility critiques how resilience engages with uncertainty. While resilience claims to be grounded upon ontological uncertainty, its reliance on systems theory creates tension between its ontological and epistemological commitments. Adherence to causal-linear or rationalist epistemologies to overcome ontological uncertainty can lead to unintended and often irreversible consequences. Reversibility, in contrast, argues for embracing ontological uncertainty through the inclusion of plural epistemological perspectives within policymaking. This embeds an ethic of deconstructive reflection, enabling the inclusion of marginalised discourses and ideas, and prioritises actions that preserve the conditions for contingency and perspectivity, contributing to the development of policies better equipped to navigate uncertainty.
The research has two primary objectives: first, to conceptualise reversibility as an operable political concept; and second, to demonstrate its practical application in policymaking. Using the Open Working Group (OWG) of the UN SDGs as a case study, the study critically examines the negotiation processes that shaped the SDGs. The analysis assesses the extent to which the OWG adhered to the conditions of plurality and perspectivity during its negotiations. While the OWG made efforts to incorporate diverse inputs, its emphasis on rationalist knowledge (evident in the prioritisation of quantifiable targets and indicators) reveals a preference for governance approaches based on causal linearity. This constrained the inclusion of alternative perspectives and limited the SDGs’ responsiveness to the complexity and uncertainty of global challenges.
The research highlights the limitations of the OWG process and suggests that embedding reversibility as a guiding principle in policymaking could enhance the capacity for inclusive and adaptive governance. By fostering deconstructive reflection, and using this to guide the reconstruction of policymaking, reversibility offers a framework emphasising self-restraint, prudence, and humility. While not prescriptive of policy content, reversibility contributes to the theoretical debate on governing under uncertainty and unpredictability, offering practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners, emphasising the embrace of uncertainty as foundational to governance and the need for greater epistemological and ontological coherence. These contributions aim to create more responsive and effective policy frameworks in response to the challenges of the Anthropocene.
References
Behr, Hartmut (2017) Conditions of critique and the non-irreversibility of politics, Journal of International Political Theory, 13:1, 122-140
Behr, Hartmut (2019) Towards a political concept of reversibility in international relations: Bridging political philosophy and policy studies, European Journal of International Relations, 25:4, 1212-1235
Behr, Hartmut (2024) Reversibility – Politics under Conditions of Uncertainty, Montréal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2024.
Chakrabarty, D. (2015), The Anthropocene and the convergence of histories, in Hamilton, C., Bonneuil, C. & Gemenne, F. (ed.) The Anthropocene and the Global Environmental Crises: Rethinking modernity in a new epoch, Oxon; Routeledge, pp.44-56
Davoudi, Simin. (2015) Planning as Practice of Knowing, Planning Theory 14(3) 316 331.
Davoudi, S. (2016) Resilience and Governmentality of Unknowns, in Bevir, M. (ed.) Governmentality after neoliberalism, New York; Routledge, pp.152 171.
Davoudi, Simin, Brooks, Elizabeth & Mehmood, Abid (2013) Evolutionary Resilience and Strategies for Climate Adaptation, Planning Practice & Research, 28:3, 307-322,
Gabay, Clive & Ilcan, Suzan (2017) Leaving No-one Behind? The Politics of Destination in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Globalizations, 14:3, 337-342
Spann, Michael (2017) Politics of Poverty: The Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the Business of Agriculture, Globalizations, 14:3, 360-378
| Keywords | Reversibility; Resilience; Uncertainty; Anthropocene; UN SDGs |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
