Applying Bakhtin in urban studies: the failure of community participation in the Ferguslie Park Partnership

This paper attempts to demonstrate something of the potential value of an analytical focus on language-use as a method in urban studies. It sets out to do this by outlining a particular approach to the analysis of language-use and then bringing it to bear on a concrete problem which is of some significant relevance to those concerned with processes of urban change. The approach is one which is informed by the works of the 'Bakhtin Circle'. The problem addressed is that of the failure of community participation in what has been one of the flagship urban regeneration projects in Scotland over the past 10 years-the 'Ferguslie Park Partnership'. The suggestion is that an application of the approach emanating from the works of the Bakhtin Circle helps to cast some significant light on this problem. Moreover, this approach might well find a broader application in the analysis of processes of urban change.