Phronesis Through GIS: Exploring Political Spaces of Education∗

Abstract

Distilling the different ways that neoliberal regimes have impacted the governance of public policy and planning is as much a political maneuvering exercise as it is a scholarly endeavor. The process of empirical research that attempts to uncover such impacts is from the very beginning fraught with numerous problems: sifting through rhetorical ambiguities, dealing with agenda-makers and data gatekeepers, and navigating through complex bureaucratic layers of regulations. These all appear in a concerted effort to maintain and protect the interests of the rational state model. This frustration, although not uncommon in increasingly controlling and risk-adverse regimes, further necessitates that researchers draw on an alternative repertoire of skills and understandings. CitationFlyvbjerg's (2001) argument toward critical social science advocating a phronetic approach—an Aristotelian value-laden concept highlighting the importance of “practical wisdom, practical judgment, common sense and prudence” (Flyvbjerg 2004, 284) balanced by Foucault's power–knowledge relations—provides a useful framework in navigating through these procedural hurdles. Reflecting on the process of research exploring various impacts of the neoliberalization of education in Ontario, this article argues that using a hybrid form of phronesis—engaged in reflexive practices, hidden knowledge and unorthodox sources—combined with the contextual dimensionality of geographic information systems (GIS) is useful to better understand the structural barriers in place and to develop a sensitivity to the political and ethical implications involved in exploring the conflicting spaces of education.

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