Communication approaches for participatory planning and civic engagement in sustainable governance systems : a study of social communicative behaviour in Indonesia

Abstract

Although there is wide discussion of communicative planning, or dialogue, in the field of participatory development planning, very little empirical research exists on communicative behaviour in participation and governance systems. This raises questions about how stakeholders (both government and non-government agencies) come to understand the complex dynamics of communication challenges and actions in the process of discourse and policy legitimation and agree on strategies and actions through participation and governance systems. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the contextual factors that form participants' communicative behaviour in participatory processes, from the dual perspectives of socio-cultural geography and communication studies. The research focused on the Musrenbang, an annual local participatory exercise conducted across Indonesia. Ethnographic observation, archival studies, and in-depth interviews with 61 respondents were conducted in two contrasting case study regions, Biak and Sragen, to explore the different forms and impacts of social communicative behaviour in relation to engagement in participatory governance. The aim was to interpret the symbolic forms, values and norms that are evident in participatory processes through cultural discourse analysis. Additionally, the study aimed to explore the link between communicative rationality and communicative behaviour between both local government agencies and community representatives. The results show that the aim of participants’ involvement in participatory processes can be described with four dimensions: rationality, stability, adaptability, and inclusivity. These are termed Social Power Objective dimensions. The research also found that the communicative behaviour of the participants is significantly related to firstly, cultural underpinnings and preferences, and secondly, power mechanisms and relations. The thesis concludes that culturally and geographically specific analysis of communicative behaviour has significant implications for our understanding of local engagement in participatory planning and governance. The resulting framework of Social Power Objective dimensions has an important contribution to make to both practice and further research in (dialogic) communication strategies in participation and governance.