Critical Reflection Paper

MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING CRP 495 | URBAN POLITICAL ANALYSIS

Evaluation of the Article ‘’European economic integration and urban inequalities in Western Europe’’

in Accordance with The Learning Outcomes of the Course

Ufuk DEMİR – Sinay COŞKUN 2019 – 2020 | FALL

PART I. Evaluation of the paper in terms of ontological, epistemological, human nature and methodological approaches adopted by the author.

There are four main assumptions related to the nature or philosophy of science. They can be perceived as ontological, epistemological, human nature and methodological approaches.

Under each approaches, there are two polarized perspectives which are the objectivist and subjectivist approaches. In the first part of this reflection paper; main assumptions of the philosophy of science will be discussed in accordance with the paper named as ‘’ European economic integration and urban inequalities in Western Europe’’ by L. McCarthy.

Firstly, ontology is the theory explaining what exist; in other words, it is the science or study of the being. Heidegger (1996) states that by ontology is meant the interpretation of the basic constituents of the world of experience. The main concern here is whether the reality is external to the individual or the product of individual consciousness.

As it is mentioned in the paper, the main objective of establishing the single European market was to strengthen EU economic growth. In fact, that means individual cities will have more and more difficulties in adapting to that major growth referring the high level inequalities and disparities in such cities. In accordance with the overall idea of the paper, it can be said that there isn’t any response to the meta-ontological and classical philosophical question of the objective criteria for deciding if the realists or nominalists are right. Still, the author follows empirical analysis method to explain some specific issues such as income inequalities, restructuring processes and annual economic statistics to compare functional urban areas across Western Europe. Here, it is worth noting that in realism, the science is defined as an empirical, rational and objective enterprise. Thus, all of the facts and analyzes are based on explanations. Although the paper emphasizes European Union’s attempts in minimizing inequalities by raising the level of development in poorer countries, the author also drawing attention to the issue that economic integration trend of EU does not always contribute to minimize urban disparities. At this point, it takes us to the necessity of explanations on regular relations between phenomena and some kind of underlying structures/mechanisms connecting them. On the other hand, there is not any argument on a tradition-based detection. So the author evaluates urban inequalities from an objective point of view.

Secondly, as a branch of philosophy, epistemology deals with the sources of knowledge.

Specifically, it deals with probabilities, limitations and sources, and the nature of knowledge.

In short, it is a philosophical field in search of the knowledge and how to reach or find it.

By evaluating the general assumptions on the reasons of the economic inequalities in the Western Europe, it can be said that the author adopted positivist approach referring his/her using a method which is based on economic modelling – basically a desk-based activity seeking out pre-existing data. Furthermore, different rationales are emphasized to better analyze the past and existing situation of the level of economic inequalities. So it is seen that there is an objective reality in the paper and facts, statistics and quantifiable data only matters. It is obvious that positivism fits the epistemological assumptions widespread in the European Studies, concerning what represents proper knowledge and sound data. All in all, contrarily to the subjectivist epistemological approach which adopted the idea that theoretical statements Ufuk DEMİR – Sinay COŞKUN 2019 – 2020 | FALL

do not describe reality, the author supports more quantitative methods favoured, past and present models and trends such as trends in inequalities for the richest and poorest cities and standardized means of gross regional domestic product per capita for the richest twenty versus the poorest twenty metropolitan regions (pg. 402 – 403).

On the other hand, as it is mentioned by J. Hoerner and P. Stephenson (2012), the negative consequence of an automatic and self-reinforcing focus on positivist methods can lead not only to unsatisfactory evaluation outcomes, but even to the failure of the program itself. A stronger emphasis should arguably be placed on the various post-positivist approaches to the economic evaluations, such as realism and constructivism, in order to make evaluation more effective and legitimate.

Thirdly, the objectivist under the human nature debate it is indicated that the activities of human beings are determined by the environment. It also indicates, whatever happens at some specific moment is the outcome of something that happened at a previous moment. So basically, it can be said that objectivist view of the human nature debate or determinism, adapts a hundred percent prototype, which means, under specific conditions, a specific condition will occur in all cases.

In the paper, the author argues that the economic integration initiatives planned under the European Union may be constructive as well as extremely destructive for the individual cities.

Here, rather than making an absolute inference and giving a hundred percent possibility, the diversity of possibilities was emphasized by evaluating the data acquired in the past. In order to support this, author’s arguments indicating that the further economic integration may not be (anymore) contribute to the reduced disparities can be given as an example. All in all, the arguments presented by the author are, sometimes, contradict the past economic order or experiences, it means that he/she does not support the idea that past experiences or facts are the one and only one determinants of the prospective facts and possibilities, which is far from the determinist approach.

Lastly, as the final discussion of this reflection paper, the methodological approach adopted by the author will be evaluated. In the objectivist methodological approach or in nomothetic theory making generalizations about the world and understanding large-scale social patterns are the man focuses. On the other hand, the subjectivist methodological approach or idiographic theory uncovering a great deal of detailed information about a narrower subject of study is the man focus. In nomothetic approach the tools are field studies, specific questions and problem sets. On the contrary, idiographic theory uses the life stories, diaries, biographies and journalists’ records as a tool.

If the author’s perspective is evaluated on the basis of methodological approaches, it is seen that she predominantly urges upon a significant body of research on income inequalities at a regional level. In fact, sometimes, she refers the specific urban areas to better describe spatial patterns of the richest and poorest cities. In the overall scheme, the importance of national economic context is concluded by using specific data analyzed with a quantitative technique.

The study carried out here is based on a theory and uses systematic techniques.

Ufuk DEMİR – Sinay COŞKUN 2019 – 2020 | FALL

PART II. Evaluation of the paper in terms of sociology of regulation and sociology of radical change adopted by the author.

FUNCTIONALIST PARADIGM The functionalist paradigm advocates that the society is a complex system in which different parts operate together in stability and solidarity (Giddens, 2008). Broadly, the functional paradigm tries to explain topics like status-quo, social system reconciliation, social unification, solidarity, need for satisfaction and reality from a sociological stand point. The way it deals with such topics are realistic as it prioritizes the social world over individuals and perceives the social world as independent from the individuals. It can be deemed positivistic as it posits that the social world should be handled as a set of perceptible structures and studied objectively. As it accepts the societies determinism and perceives individuals as products of the social world it can be deemed deterministic. Moreover, when the social world is studied as perceptible, one can reach broad laws via a positivistic logic, therefore the structuralfunctional paradigm is nomothetic in its study of the social. Finally, it is pragmatic in the sense that it evaluates society via its ability to produce usable information.

Functionalists view order and balance as the societies’ normal state (Giddens, 2008). As with the human body, there are various structures in the society like family, education system, state and law. The functional paradigm focuses on how the interaction between these systems keep a stable society functioning.

When the article examined with this paradigm, the process of economic integration of Europe may be considered as something favorable or acceptable. With the integration process, the European Union aims to ensure the continuity and stability of the society in a functional manner within the framework of a central economic program by prioritizing certain norms and values. In such a way, ties are created to hold cities of different income levels together and the aim is to minimize the level of conflicts between them. Since the European cities entered the free market under the same conditions and a competition took place under equal conditions, the system can be considered as relatively objective and the results of this competition is decisive in the future of cities. It should be clear that although the result is not as desired, the city accepts the result because it enters the same competition as all other cities.

In other words, a secret compromise is created in the society. Furthermore, the social structure is reproduced through this competition. The shifting from old-style production to industrially different and particularly high economic value productions in cities can be considered as a reflection of the functional paradigm in the system. To be clear, it is tried to respond to the new social demands by eliminating the old-style forms of production that do not meet the needs of the society. In such a way, the human resources needed by the society are raised and individuals are prepared for their future roles.

New standards are set for institutions that play a role in this integration process and the confidence of the cities (or societies) in the institutions is increased by placing a standard for each service for a certain period of time. This contributes to the continuation of the social order.

Ufuk DEMİR – Sinay COŞKUN 2019 – 2020 | FALL

INTERPREVITE PARADIGM The interpretive paradigm tries to understand the nature of the social world via subjective experiences. For this paradigm, the purpose is to understand and explain unified, intertwined and ordered human relations. The social reality can only be explained via diving deep into the human consciousness and analyzing the subjectiveness of basic human understanding. The society, which is in an ordered state, should be analyzed in a participatory methodology rather than an observatory one, according to hermeneutics (Morgan, 1980). According to this view, the educational system adopts an elastic and hermeneutic philosophy that can respond to the expectations and values of the society, as opposed to adopting broad principles that are true for everyone.

The market is an open system that is under the influence of internal and external forces that can create chaos. If those who dominate the market cannot deal with these influences, the market may be face to face with an uncontrollable chaos, which can lead to bankruptcy of order or the system. In the Interpretative paradigm, subject and inter-group relationships are considered. If the European cities are divided into three components as the organization, the member and the environment; here, the task of the European Union can be considered as understanding and interpreting the relations between these three components and to develop the necessary philosophies. At this point, the economic integration process helps us to understand the relations between cities: If we consider the domestic markets of nations as thesis, and the European Union as antithesis; the integration reflects the synthesis of these two components.

RADICAL STRUCTURALIST PARADIGM The radical structuralist paradigm which has roots that are connected to the materialist view, completed its intellectual process in the second half of the 19th century with Karl Marx’s views. The radical structuralist paradigm posits that the perceptible reality, just as the nature, exists on its own independent of the human mind. The first and foremost purpose of this paradigm is to criticize the status-quo in social relations. This paradigm does not only criticize, it also aims to reshape the social world (Burrell and Morgan, 1979). To make sense of the social formation roles it studies, it uses metaphors like division, catastrophe and the tool of sovereignty. Metaphor is the method of comparing two different events or beings so as to show similarities or differences in between them, to make it more understandable (Morgan, 1980). The division metaphor assumes organizations tend to split due to internal conflicts, the catastrophe metaphor assumes internal contradictions in organizations cause unforeseen results. Finally, the tool of sovereignty metaphor sees organizations as the tool of sovereignty in the society and this is evident in the European economic integration processes. Every city that is in the forefront of production, is changing in line with its own mode of production. The following paragraph in the article clearly states this situation: ‘’ The majority (17) of the richest twenty cities were located in Germany. Moreover, nine of the twenty richest cities were concentrated in southern Germany. Metropolitan regions there enjoy exceptional site and situational advantages such as highly skilled labor, good transportation connections, and attractive urban environments largely free of the vestiges of Ufuk DEMİR – Sinay COŞKUN 2019 – 2020 | FALL

declining manufacturing industries. Cities such Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and MÏnchen have local economies based on producer services, high-technology, or modern distribution industries.”

Since system of production focuses on the benefits of sovereign cities, issues such as economic distribution are not included in the interest of all cities and this causes intergroup tensions after a certain time. Conflict theorists in the radical structuralist paradigm examine the tensions between dominant and disadvantaged groups in society and try to understand how the control mechanisms are established and maintained. All in all, the inequality between cities is not solved, it is eve, literally reproduced by the economic integration process of EU. RADICAL HUMANIST PARADIGM The radical humanist paradigm stands on the idea that “the fundamental reality of the universe is not matter, but soul”. As it shares the view that “individuals live in the world they themselves create” with the hermeneutic paradigm, they are sometimes perceived as the same paradigm. However, while hermeneutics try to understand this process, radical humanists criticize this situation and looks for ways to stop people from being alienated from themselves (Burrell and Morgan, 1979). It can be said that there are four main pillars under the radical humanist paradigm; egoism, existentialism, individual anarchism and critical theory. Existentialism, which has its roots in Jean Paul Sartre’s literary work, posits that individuals are not observers in the world they live but to the contrary are the creators of it and are active inside it. The best example of an unrealistic ideology is egoism; because the world is in the individuals’ mind and it refuses the world with independent reality. The purpose of the critical theory is not to only understand the existing situation, but to change and reshape it. For this reason, it exposes individual relations based on interests in certain situations and criticizes how compatible they are for equality and democracy. Finally, individual anarchism advocates the abolishment of internal or external regulations and aims to achieve absolute individual freedom.

When European cities are analyzed in terms of radical humanist paradigm; first of all, debates about the lack of a democratic structure of the current economic relations come up; because this structure can cause cities to be free to a certain extent in the market, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to experience contradiction as a result of the situation created by the excessive centralization of the integration process. Furthermore, the fact that cities feel that they have no influence on the determination and development of the economic policy of the nation, causes them to feel powerless against the system and to restrict their freedom and alienate themselves by performing only the role assigned to them. All in all, it is possible to argue that, the competition mentioned above, restricts the creativity of the market as it is compulsory, removes it from creativity and increases the feelings of inferiority and guilt in the society.

Ufuk DEMİR – Sinay COŞKUN 2019 – 2020 | FALL