Non-seeing, Non-thinking and Non-learning in Governance
The Return of the Unobserved and the Challenge of Sustainability
Will be published approx. on 15. October 2026
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-350-54055-2 (ISBN)
Description
A critical exploration of how non-learning functions in governance and its significance in understanding how policies can adapt to grand challenges such as sustainability.
As societies and governments are faced with mounting challenges, particularly in the form of environmental threats, new demands are being placed on government systems which must embrace new modes of learning and observation in order to transform policies. Here, Kristof Van Assche and Monica Gruezmacher seek to emphasize the importance of understanding 'epistemic negatives' - non-observing, non-thinking and non-learning - in governance.
Drawing on governance theory, critical management studies, policy studies and psychoanalysis, this study shines a light on the way unseen structures of knowledge influence the way we govern ourselves and our environment, and identifies how we can begin to overcome the dangers this poses to good governance. The book puts forward that not understanding the role of negative knowledge in governance is not truly understanding governance, and that these negatives must be fully observed in order to implement viable solutions to grand challenges that emphasize long-term strategy building, diverse observations and understandings of system-environment relations.
As societies and governments are faced with mounting challenges, particularly in the form of environmental threats, new demands are being placed on government systems which must embrace new modes of learning and observation in order to transform policies. Here, Kristof Van Assche and Monica Gruezmacher seek to emphasize the importance of understanding 'epistemic negatives' - non-observing, non-thinking and non-learning - in governance.
Drawing on governance theory, critical management studies, policy studies and psychoanalysis, this study shines a light on the way unseen structures of knowledge influence the way we govern ourselves and our environment, and identifies how we can begin to overcome the dangers this poses to good governance. The book puts forward that not understanding the role of negative knowledge in governance is not truly understanding governance, and that these negatives must be fully observed in order to implement viable solutions to grand challenges that emphasize long-term strategy building, diverse observations and understandings of system-environment relations.
Reviews / Votes
'Why do governance systems fail to see, think, and learn? In this bold and thought-provoking book, Van Assche and Gruezmacher uncover the hidden forces shaping decision-making-what is ignored, dismissed, or simply unseen. Through a masterful blend of governance theory, psychology, and critical analysis, they reveal how blind spots, selective inattention, and institutional inertia create governance failures and sustainability crises. Packed with fresh insights and real-world relevance, this book is a must-read for policymakers, scholars, and changemakers eager to rethink governance for a more adaptive, responsive, and sustainable future.' * Phillip Allmendinger, University of London and Former Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK * This original and highly insightful volume on the blind spots, limits, but also possibilities of governance sheds a new light on pathways of change, in times when they are in urgent need of re-examination . A must read. * Poul F. Kjaer, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark * "This interdisciplinary new book by Van Assche and Gruezmacher turns conventional governance thinking on its head. Drawing on insights from critical management studies, organization studies, systems theory, governance theory, critical policy studies, resilience thinking, and psychoanalysis, the authors argue that, in the face of today's grand challenges, governance thinking must focus on its 'epistemic negatives'-those aspects that necessarily remain unobserved, unthought, and unlearned. This amounts to nothing less than a call for a scientific revolution in governance studies. A must-read for scholars and practitioners of public policy and administration, planning, and sustainable development." * David Seidl, University of Zurich, Switzerland *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-54055-2 (9781350540552)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Kristof Van Assche is a Professor at the University of Alberta, Canada and Visiting Professor at the University of the Free State, South Africa.
Monica Gruezmacher is an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Alberta and an Adjunct Professor in the Environmental Policy Institute at Memorial University, Canada.
Monica Gruezmacher is an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Alberta and an Adjunct Professor in the Environmental Policy Institute at Memorial University, Canada.
Content
List of Figures
Preface
1. Governance as a setting and a goal
2. Observing and thinking in governance
3. Learning in governance
4. Learning, dark learning and non-learning
5. Non-observation: reasons and mechanisms
6. Non-thinking: reasons and mechanisms
7. Non-learning: reasons and mechanisms
8. Reconsidering the relation between thinking and organizing
9. The return of the unobserved?
Epilogue: The power of negatives and the positive transformation of governance
Index
Preface
1. Governance as a setting and a goal
2. Observing and thinking in governance
3. Learning in governance
4. Learning, dark learning and non-learning
5. Non-observation: reasons and mechanisms
6. Non-thinking: reasons and mechanisms
7. Non-learning: reasons and mechanisms
8. Reconsidering the relation between thinking and organizing
9. The return of the unobserved?
Epilogue: The power of negatives and the positive transformation of governance
Index