The Contribution of Assemblage Theory and Minor Politics for Democratic Network Governance

Abstract

This article starts from Sørensen and Torfing's (2004) notion that the field of network governance is `somewhat eclectic and confusing' and that it lacks a sound ontological foundation. I will argue that the lack of a proper conceptualization of intermediate-scale entities such as interpersonal networks, organizations or social movements in network governance hampers the introduction of post-liberal concepts of democracy into network governance. In the second part of the article I introduce DeLanda's theory of social complexity, which is a development of DeuleuzoGuattarian Assemblage Theory. I propose it as an ontological foundation for network governance research. Assemblage theory connects to concepts of minor and major politics. In the third part of the article I present a concept of `minor governance' in order to revisit democratic network governance.

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