“Inquiry and Change: The Troubled Attempt to Understand and Shape Society”, 1990. The Radical Contribution of Charles E. Lindblom’s Self-Guiding Society and Probing Volition

Inquiry and Change has been the last and most radical book of Charles Lindblom, the political scientist that with his thoughtful reflections changed the way in which we interpret and try to shape public decisions. This chapter offers a reading of the book putting it in relation with the previous work of the great scholar. Following his work on incrementalism and the relation between scientific expert knowledge and ordinary knowledge, Lindblom dedicates this book to explore the consequences of an approach to social and political change that is based upon a critical understanding of how people gather and analyze information to cope with social problems. The concept of volition is central. Volitions are not only defined in interaction and are not given, but they are formed through a process of probing. But probing is not free, it is frequently impaired by institutions in order to keep and maintain the power structure of a centrally guided society. In this sense, scientific knowledge is unveiled as an intensified exercise of lay knowledge but at the same time frequently used as an instrument of impairment. The perspective assumed by Lindblom is that of the self-guided society, that requires a commitment towards the removal of barriers to the free probing volitions of citizens. The chapter offers in conclusion a reflection about the implication of Lindblom thought on planning theory and practice.