Governance and the centrality of failure: a comedy of errors

Abstract

Governance, and particularly what is widely referred to as ‘new’ governance, is currently a hot topic in social research. New governance is widely understood to be a response to the failures of both top down ‘command and control’ and unregulated markets, and the growing complexity, fragmentation and dynamic nature of society. Yet alternative forms of governance are themselves subject to failure. Despite this, failure has aroused little sustained interest among social scientists. This paper attempts to remedy this situation and proposes an alternative approach located within a comic frame which views failure arising in misrecognition.