Challenging governance theory

"The conventional wisdom about 'governance' is subject to an incisive critique, reinforcing Davies reputation for pushing forward new thinking about the relationship between state and civil society." -- Chris Skelcher, University of Birmingham. "Jonathan Davies adds a novel critical voice to debates about governance. Drawing on Gramsci, he argues that network governance is less a panacea than a perpetuation of modernism. Dreams of spreading connections, reflexivity, and communication constantly get transformed into a reality of hierarchy, hegemony, and domination." -- Mark Bevir, University of California, Berkeley. "A robust challenge to the casual acceptance of network governance as the 'way we live now', this book offers a stimulating and provocative critique of governance that is theoretically rich and analytically satisfying. Essential. " -- Helen Sullivan, University of Birmingham. "Davies lays out a powerful critique of current calls to order in social policy and public services." -- Alex Law, University of Abertay, Dundee. "While a short volume..it nevertheless leaves a few cues to researchers to develop a more democratic and equitable architecture of government-sourced governing in which networks will be a necessary but never sufficient condition." Dipankar Sinha Political Studies Review