A Politics of Inevitability [electronic resource] : The Privatisation of the Berlin Water Company, the Global City Discourse and Governance in 1990s Berlin /
Beveridge, Ross.author.
This book provides a detailed analysis of the controversial privatisation of the Berlin Water Company (BWB) in 1999. As with other cases of privatisation around the world, the city’s government argued there was no alternative in a context of public debts and economic restructuring. Drawing on post-structuralist theory, the analysis presented here steps outside the parameters of this neat, straightforward explanation. It problematises the ‘hard facts’ upon which the decision was apparently made, presenting instead an account in which facts can be political constructions shaped by normative assumptions and political strategies. A politics of inevitability in 1990s Berlin is revealed; one characterised by depoliticisation, expert-dominated policy processes and centred upon the perceived necessities of urban governance in the global economy. It is an account in which global and local dynamics mix: where the interplay between the general and the specific, between neoliberalism and politicking, and between globalisation and local actors characterise the discussion.   This book is valuable reading for researchers in the fields of water politics, urban studies, policy studies and those with a general interest in post-structuralist theory.
Description based upon print version of record.
Acknowledgements; Contents; List of tables; List of acronyms and abbreviations; 1. Context, themes and strategy; A politics of inevitability; Analysing a politics of inevitability; Outline of the book; 2. Privatisation, globalisation and neo-liberalism: governance in the 1990s; Introduction; The rise of contemporary privatisation; Neo-liberal globalisation and the city; Privatisation in the water sector; Conclusion: re-politicising privatisation; Chapter 3. Facts and values in policy-making; Introduction; The relationships between knowledge, values and policy-making
Moving towards a post-positivist approach to policy studiesConclusion: studying facts and values in policy-making; 4. Governmentality, policy discourse and translation; Introduction; Governmentality; Political rationalities, political programmes and technologies of government; Adapting the approach to analyse policy-making; From discourse to political agency: ANT and translation; Actor-network theory and policy analysis?; Conclusion: summarising the analytical approach; 5. The global city policy discourse and water policy-making: making the privatisation of BWB 'inevitable'; Introduction
A ready-made account of why BWB was partially privatisedA politics in the making account of the background to the BWB privatisation; The global city discourse: translating neo-liberalism in Berlin; Translating the global city policy discourse in the water sector; Proposing the privatisation of BWB, 19971998: a politics of inevitability?; Conclusion: producing a politics of inevitability; 6. From ready-made accounts to a politics in the making account of the privatisation of BWB; Introduction; July 1998October 1999: realising the privatisation project; Ready-made politics 1
Ready-made politics 2A politics in the making account; Resistance to the management of the process; The negotiations with the private sector companies; RWE/ Vivendi/ Allianz win the bidding process; Revising the Partial Privatisation Law: the legal challenge and the confidential privatisation contracts (June - October 1999); BWB post-privatisation; Conclusion: assessing the accounts of the privatisation process; 7. Assessing the BWB partial privatisation; Introduction; The partial privatisation of BWB; Experts, contemporary governance and neo-liberalism; 8. Assessing the theoretical approach
IntroductionSynthesising three literatures; Areas for future research; References; Appendix: list of interviewees
Dissertation--Newcastle University, 2010.
Includes bibliographical references.
This book provides a detailed analysis of the controversial privatisation of the Berlin Water Company (BWB) in 1999. As with other cases of privatisation around the world, the city’s government argued there was no alternative in a context of public debts and economic restructuring. Drawing on post-structuralist theory, the analysis presented here steps outside the parameters of this neat, straightforward explanation. It problematises the ‘hard facts’ upon which the decision was apparently made, presenting instead an account in which facts can be political constructions shaped by normative assumptions and political strategies. A politics of inevitability in 1990s Berlin is revealed; one characterised by depoliticisation, expert-dominated policy processes and centred upon the perceived necessities of urban governance in the global economy. It is an account in which global and local dynamics mix: where the interplay between the general and the specific, between neoliberalism and politicking, and between globalisation and local actors characterise the discussion.   This book is valuable reading for researchers in the fields of water politics, urban studies, policy studies and those with a general interest in post-structuralist theory.
Berliner Wasser-Betriebe.
Political science.
Environmental management.
Political Science.
Water Policy/Water Governance/Water Management.