Progressive localism and the construction of political alternatives

Featherstone, David; Ince, Anthony; MacKinnon, Danny; Strauss, Kendra; Cumbers, Andrew

doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2011.00493.x

Cited by 240 publications

(272 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The second view emphasises the open-ended nature of empowerment as a process where new forms of citizen involvement can open up new 'spaces' with 'transformational potential'. This is similar to Featherstone et al's (2012), concept of 'progressive localism', in contrast to the neoliberal 'austerity localism' (page 177):…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the State Empower Communities through Localism? An Evaluation of Recent Approaches to Neighbourhood Governance in England

Bailey

Pill

2015

Environ Plann C Gov Policy

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Abstract. 'Empowerment' is a term much used by policy makers with an interest in improving service delivery and promoting different forms of neighbourhood governance. But the term is ambiguous and has no generally accepted definition. Indeed, there is a growing paradox between the rhetoric of community empowerment and an apparent shift towards increased centralisation of power away from the neighbourhood in developed economies. In this paper we explore the literature relating to empowerment and identify two broad conceptions which reflect different emphases on neoliberalism. We go on to discuss two models illustrating different levels of state intervention at the neighbourhood level and set out evidence from two neighbourhood councils in Milton Keynes in central England. In conclusion, it is argued that those initiatives which are top-down, state-led policy initiatives tend to result in the least empowerment (as defined by government), whereas the bottom-up, self-help projects, which may be partly state enabled, at least provide an opportunity to create the spaces where there is some potential for varying degrees of transformation. Further empirical research is needed to test how far localist responses can challenge constraints on empowerment imposed by neoliberalism.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the State Empower Communities through Localism? An Evaluation of Recent Approaches to Neighbourhood Governance in England

Bailey

Pill

2015

Environ Plann C Gov Policy

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“…The first is the mention of community engagement by the Coalition (Ray, 2012) which could be interpreted fairly widely and might for example include engagement of those with disabilities. It might also relate to the theme of 'Big Society' promoted by the Conservatives, the dominant party in the coalition, which sought to engage individuals and groups in providing contributions to society that replace state provision (Featherstone, Ince, Mackinnon, Strauss, & Cumbers, 2012). The second is the emphasis placed on competitive sport for young people.…”

Section: The London 2012 Games Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Meta-Evaluation of the Sports Participation Impact and Legacy of the London 2012 Games: Methodological Implications

Henry

2016

Journal of Global Sport Management

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Short Abstract 1The London 2012 Games were subject to the most substantial evaluation of any of the Olympic Games, or indeed any other sporting event, to date, in the form of a meta-evaluation. Meta-evaluations evaluate the collective lessons learned from smaller individual evaluation studies and consist of two principal elements. The first reports a synthesis of the results of the evaluations of individual programs and projects, and of national participation data; and the second consists of an evaluation of the rigour of the methods adopted in project and program evaluation and national evaluation studies, and of the conclusions drawn The paper addresses one of the high-profile legacy goals associated with the 2012 Games, increased sports participation, and seeks to explain the disjunction between national level participation data indicating little or no increase in participation and programme or project data suggesting significant increases, and thus highlights the limits to this specific application of the meta-evaluation approach. Long Abstract 2The London 2012 Games were subject to the most substantial evaluation of any of the preceding Olympic Games, or indeed any other sporting event, to that date. This evaluation took the form of a meta-evaluation. Meta-evaluations evaluate the lessons learned from smaller individual evaluation studies and consist of two principal elements. The first reports a synthesis of the results of the evaluations of individual programs and projects, and of national participation data; and the second consists of an 'evaluation of evaluations' which undertakes a critical review of the methods adopted in those project and program evaluation and national evaluation studies, and evaluates the rigour of their implementation.

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“…New Labour failed to understand that communities are no longer straightforwardly territorially based (if they ever were). Given this -and the power relations within all places (Featherstone et al 2012) -local people do not come together easily around a shared vision (Cochrane 2004). …”

Section: Conclusion: Locality and Localism In Recent British Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locality and localism: a view from British Human Geography

Clarke

2013

Policy Studies

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This paper considers the political geography of localism and reviews the insights of geographers regarding localism and locality. It identifies three main approaches to locality in Human Geography. Regional geographers, humanistic geographers and spatial scientists view localities as relatively natural phenomena. Marxist and political-economic geographers view localities as social phenomena produced by uneven capitalist development. Poststructuralist geographers view localities as characteristically open, plural and dynamic. The paper also distinguishes three sets of political localism to be found in human-geographical literatures. Firstly, localism describes seemingly natural ways of life -organised to maximise authentic experiences of place in the case of Humanistic Geography, and to minimise the friction of distance in the case of spatial science. Secondly, localism describes cultural-political expressions of spatial divisions of labour, including local political cultures, local proactivity in the context of large-scale economic restructuring, and actually existing, variegated, local neoliberalisations. Thirdly, localism describes struggles to produce locallyscaled action, including projects of local autonomy and self-sufficiency directed against the central state, movements to defend collective consumption from developers, coalitions to defend fixed capital against devaluation, and state-downscaling to regulate capitalism. To illustrate their usefulness, some of these insights are applied to the localism agendas of recent British governments.

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Progressive localism and the construction of political alternatives

Cited by 240 publications

References 18 publications

Can the State Empower Communities through Localism? An Evaluation of Recent Approaches to Neighbourhood Governance in England

Can the State Empower Communities through Localism? An Evaluation of Recent Approaches to Neighbourhood Governance in England

The Meta-Evaluation of the Sports Participation Impact and Legacy of the London 2012 Games: Methodological Implications

Locality and localism: a view from British Human Geography

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