Contesting architectural competitions
Legal mobilization as strategic performativity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24237669 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristin Bergtora Sandvik (0000-0003-4671-6410, University of Oslo) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-21 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social & Legal Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0964-6639 • E-ISSN: 1461-7390 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/09646639261498221 |
| OpenAlex | W7223155128 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 26 |
This article examines the governance of megaprojects in a post-terror context through a study of the architectural competition to reconstruct Oslo's Government Quarter. On 22 July, 2011, a terrorist bombed the Government complex, claiming eight lives and injuring hundreds before committing a massacre of sixty-nine people at Utøya island. In 2017, the competition for the design of the new Quarter triggered an unprecedented complaints process that lasted until 2019. The article draws on theories of legal mobilization, semiautonomous social fields, and grievance articulation to analyze how EU procurement law, national trauma, professional norms, and state authority interacted in this case. The article introduces the concept of “strategic performativity” to explain how legal mobilization short of litigation served symbolic and professional purposes beyond legal outcomes. It highlights three key strategies: signaling moral commitment to support post-terror reconstruction, reinforcing professional norms, and publicly contesting the power of the state's interlocutor, Statsbygg.
Administrative Law and Governance · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Public Procurement and Policy
The Enduring Vitality of the Resource Mobilization Theory of Social Movements
Hidden in Plain Sight? Corporate Strategic Litigation in the EU Emissions Trading System
Terrorism, Risk and the City
Dutch design competitions
Access to justice in public procurement
Cultural Heritage and Legal Mobilisation After Terror
Transitional Justice in Post-terror Contexts
Legal Change and Legal Mobilisation
Conceptualizing Legal Mobilization
Planning, Politics, and Urban Mega-Projects in Developmental Context
Putting Architecture in its Social Place
Picasso at the Bombsite
Mega-projects in New York, London and Amsterdam
The Emergence and Transformation of Disputes
Shifting Frames, Vanishing Resources, and Dangerous Political Opportunities
Framing the Choice Between Cash and the Courthouse
Why the "Haves" Come Out Ahead
Law and Social Change
Framing Processes and Social Movements
Can 'art Professions' Be Bourdieuean Fields Of Cultural Production? The Case Of The Architecture Competition
| Highly cited | No |
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