Technocratic myopia: on the pitfalls of depoliticising the future

White, Jonathan ORCID: 0000-0002-4668-698X (2024) Technocratic myopia: on the pitfalls of depoliticising the future. European Journal of Social Theory, 27 (2). 260 - 278. ISSN 1368-4310

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Abstract

That democratic authorities are systematically focused on short-term considerations is a charge often made. This ‘democratic myopia’ thesis typically becomes the basis for advocating the empowerment of technocratic institutions, for example in economic policy. Much less examined is what one may call the technocratic myopia thesis – the possibility that technocratic institutions have their own distinctive drivers of short-termism. This article presents the case, with reference to the legitimacy forms, epistemologies and organisational structures in which technocratic authority is grounded. The suggestion is that not only may technocrats fall short of the claims to long-sightedness made of them, but that this is directly bound up in some of the core features of the technocratic method. The article goes on to discuss the implications for how contemporary societies govern the future in key domains of public policy.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.sagepub.com/home/EST
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author
Divisions:	European Institute
Subjects:	J Political Science H Social Sciences
Date Deposited:	02 Jan 2024 15:15
Last Modified:	12 Nov 2024 23:33
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121127

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