‘Just ask Eric’: On the Importance of Governance Efficacy, Territorial Ties and Heterogenous Networks for Rural Development

Abstract

Territorial capital is more than economy, business and socioeconomic status of residents. It is also the way residents of localities form social networks and how these are intertwined with the local political, institutional and administrative configurations. Sampson (2011) argues that while social networks foster the conditions under which collective efficacy may flourish, they are not sufficient for the exercise of social cohesion and social control. Networks have to be activated to be meaningful. Interaction is embedded in local traditions and social order is produced locally. Analysing interviews from a rural location in Denmark, we examine how referential features of group life (spatial areas, relations, shared pasts) generate action. We develop the concept of 'governance efficacy' to denote the capacity to mobilise collective efficacy in relation to territorial development.We argue that such a concept is an important element in explaining why and how a peripheral location is able to manage social challenges despite population decline.

‘We're out, so wtf do we do now?’: Brexit and rural identity in the era of online agricultural communities

“…It is the strength of networks, as Jørgensen et al. (2020) describe, which can lead to lasting change in rural life. TFF presents this on a national scale, ‘reconnecting rural communities to the wider socio‐political environment and enhancing their capacity to act in the future through improved power relations and social capital’ (Vercher et al., 2020, p. 2).…”

“…Jørgensen et al. (2020, p. 1) demonstrate how declining rural communities necessitate a network of interlocking and interdependent relations between human actors to remain: ‘interaction is embedded in local traditions and social order is produced locally’. Identity is formed around those narratives and is the basis for collective action.…”

“…While this swing even further towards parochialism, suspicion and distrust of outsiders might be considered typical of rural areas; as the historic centre for regressive politics, several authors contend that they can equally breed emancipatory discourse (Mamonova & Franquesa, 2020;Scoones et al, 2018). It is the strength of networks, as Jørgensen et al (2020) describe, which can lead to lasting change in rural life. TFF presents this on a national scale, 'reconnecting rural communities to the wider socio-political environment and enhancing their capacity to act in the future through improved power relations and social capital' (Vercher et al, 2020, p. 2).…”

Using a new method to map quality of life

“…Neighbourhood matters. Not only in tangible ways such as housing quality and access to goods but in the sense that the local cohesion directly and measurably impacts both everyday life and life course events (Jørgensen Using a new method to map quality of life 4 0 7 , 2021Lund, 2020). In short, quality of life differs over distance (Dissart & Deller, 2000).…”

Urbanization and the organization of territorial cohesion – results from a comparative Danish case-study on territorial inequality and social cohesion

“…In Horsens, it is the imaginary of how it is in the "DNA of Horsens" that everybody are "pulling together as a unit" and how this is fundamental to the mobilization of their territorial capital. In Lemvig, it is the idea of how a combination of "mikropol" (Fallov et al, 2019a) as an international orientation couple with "pragmatic entrepreneurialism" and strong collective efficacy help them do well despite peripheral odds (Jørgensen et al, 2021). Such spatial imaginaries, or narratives of what is the "local", shapes the direction of local leadership and become hooks for the local formation of interlocking relations between local communities, local businesses and local government, which again condition territorial cohesion.…”