Re-stating the post-political: Depoliticization, social inequalities, and city-region growth

Etherington, David; Jones, Martin

doi:10.1177/0308518x17738536

Cited by 54 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…These were followed in 2015 by the agreement of a more extensive deal led by the Combined Authority after which the SCR became the second city-region after Greater Manchester to reach a devolution agreement with central government. Approved in principle, the deal was set to give the SCRCA increased responsibility over strategic planning and transport budgets and an additional £30m a year over 30 years to invest in growth and skills (Etherington and Jones, 2018). As a condition of the deal, the SCRCA agreed to elect a metro mayor by May 2017.…”

Section: Phase 1: Building Momentum Around a Sheffield City Region Immentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing the city-region: Imagineering, devolution and the search for legitimacy

Hoole

Hincks

2020

Environ Plan A

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This paper provides new conceptual and empirical insights into the role city-regions play as part of a geopolitical strategy deployed by the nation state to enact its own interests, in conversation with local considerations. Emphasis falls on the performative roles of economic models and spatial-economic imaginaries in consolidating and legitimising region-building efforts and the strategies and tactics employed by advocates to gain credibility and traction for their chosen imaginaries. We focus on the Sheffield City Region and Doncaster within it (South Yorkshire, England) drawing on 56 in-depth interviews with local policymakers, civic institutions and private sector stakeholders conducted between 2015 and 2018. In doing so, we identify three overlapping phases in the building of the Sheffield City Region: a period of initial case-making to build momentum behind the Sheffield City Region imaginary; a second of concerted challenge from alternative imaginaries; and a third where the Sheffield City Region was co-constituted alongside the dominant alternative One Yorkshire imaginary. Our work suggests that the city-region imaginary has gained traction and sustained momentum as national interests have closed down local resistance to the Sheffield City Region. This has momentarily locked local authorities into a preferred model of city-regional devolution but, in playing its hand, central government has exposed city-region building as a precarious fix where alternative imaginaries simply constitute a ‘deferred problem’ for central government going forward.

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Section: Phase 1: Building Momentum Around a Sheffield City Region Immentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing the city-region: Imagineering, devolution and the search for legitimacy

Hoole

Hincks

2020

Environ Plan A

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“…The government has attempted to depoliticise the debate by drawing on scientific and technical rationalities in the Royal Society Report, and other scientific evidence. Thus, they are seeking to move decision-making towards techno-managerial schemes, and away from state politics (Etherington and Jones 2018). The protesters were pessimistic and worried about potential unknown risks (Williams et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Beck, this growth of 'sub-politics", the use of the media and judiciary by the public to contest knowledge claims about environmental harms, was a reinvigoration of the political space. Critics of the post-political argue that the focus on consensus is inherently at odds with the antagonistic nature of the political, and can undermine democracy (Etherington and Jones 2018).…”

Section: Risk Society De-politicisation Post-politics and Anti-polmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The government is trying to depoliticise the issue by referring to expert reports and the legal framework for drilling. In this way, the responsibility is placed at "arms length" (Etherington and Jones 2018). The interviewees contested both the safety and the established nature of fracking: "I found out, what was really stunningly clear to me, was that the experts didn't actually agree about a lot of the contentious issues involved in fracking."…”

Section: Government and Economic Redistributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risk Society and Anti-Politics in the Fracking Debate

Drake

2018

Social Sciences

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Fracking in the United Kingdom has yet to reach full industrial development, but it is still subject to significant opposition. This study uses Beck's risk society theory and anti-politics to examine the views voiced by opponents to fracking in Yorkshire, England. A qualitative approach was used. Semi-structured interviews with protesters and local newspaper reports were evaluated to provide a thematic analysis. The study drew upon discourse analysis and framing literature to reveal discourses within the interviews. Although there are signs of post-materialist concerns with the environment, these issues did not dominate the discussion. Scientists were not held responsible for the risks involved in fracking. Instead, the economic greediness of politicians and austerity measures were perceived as putting the environment and human health at risk. Interviewees thought fossil fuel energy production was economically advantaged over more sustainable energy and jobs in the low carbon economy. Protesters' trust in politicians had been eroded, but faith in democracy remained. It is argued that the consensual post-politics of risk society have not led to a reinvigoration of democratic debate. Instead anti-politics have taken place, due to the frustration of citizens. Protesters wanted a citizen-led deliberative approach to the concerns raised. Such a process would have to go beyond the consensual, and recognise the inherently agonistic process of democracy if it is to succeed.

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“…As I have highlighted elsewhere (Etherington and Jones ; Jones ), the strength of Jessop's work ‒ pitched at a high‐level of abstraction and requiring meso‐level geographical and spatial analysis ‒ often requires others to fill in the “in practice” gaps and take things forward theoretically and empirically. This paper, 20 years post‐Jessop on governance and its rise and risks, offers this.…”

Section: Reflections On the Governance Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

The march of governance and the actualities of failure: the case of economic development twenty years on

Jones¹

2018

Int Social Sci J

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Twenty years ago, Bob Jessop (1998) published a defining piece on the “rise of governance” and the “risks of failure”, using the example of economic development to frame concerns with the state of capitalism at that time. This charted the rise of governance, outlined key governance practices, and offered preliminary reflections on the nature, forms, and logic of governance failure ‒ given that whilst there are already extensive literatures on market failure and state failure, governance failure required focused concern and thematic analysis. This paper, 20 years post‐Jessop on governance rise and risks, tells the tale of how governance in Britain (and England specifically) has marched on and, building on Jessop, has indeed failed, repeatedly and spectacularly. The paper reveals Jessop's governance dilemmas in action and specifically how the contradictions and crises tendencies of capitalism have both necessitated the use of, and been played out in and through, geographical space. The paper reveals an economic governance landscape of unresolved crises and contradictions, which is linked to problems of state rationality and legitimation, exhibited by the Brexit debacle in Britain.

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Re-stating the post-political: Depoliticization, social inequalities, and city-region growth

Cited by 54 publications

References 41 publications

Performing the city-region: Imagineering, devolution and the search for legitimacy

Performing the city-region: Imagineering, devolution and the search for legitimacy

Risk Society and Anti-Politics in the Fracking Debate

The march of governance and the actualities of failure: the case of economic development twenty years on

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