Peeter Selg

In the face of today’s governance failures – such as irreversible climate change, global pandemics, ongoing conflicts, and the unsustainable use of resources – interest in “wicked problems” has peaked. Wicked problems are political challenges that, while unsolvable, must still be addressed by planners who, as Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber noted 50 years ago, “have no right to be wrong”. Peeter Selg’s project seeks to put forth a relational explanation why the concept of wicked problems has become so prevalent, arguing that it stems from a success-oriented governance paradigm that equates governing with planning or engineering. Without this paradigm, the need to define such problems as “wicked” would not exist, as the real challenge lies in recognizing that governance is inherently about struggling with uncertainty and failure. Besides going beyond the notion of wickedness, the project aims to revive a failure-oriented approach to governance – termed “failure governance” – as essential for societal endurance. It does so by tracing the historical roots, contemporary relevance, and normative implications of this approach, offering a new perspective on future governance challenges.