The Allure of the “Big Society”: Conveying Authority in an Era of Uncertainty

Emergent practices of localism: the role and response of local planning authorities to neighbourhood planning in England

“…The conceptual uncertainty surrounding NP and the lack of prescription in how LPAs are to respond has enabled the LPAs to establish their own 'truth' from which they then govern the conduct of groups (Brown, 2015). The LPAs conceptualisation and explanation of the policy then provides a mandate and justification for their resultant policies and approach towards NP (Jacobs, 2015;Miller and Rose, 1990) and enables the LPA to exercise its power by shaping the values, and interests, of communities. From this political rationality the LPAs then introduce their own strategies for governing and introduce mechanisms to steer the policy towards their own ends.…”

Weather geographies: Talking about the weather, considering diverse sovereignties

“…This is an issue underscored in recent engagements with Indigenous environmental knowledges and understandings of weather and climate. Frequently aligned with narratives of urgent environmental crisis, climate change and global environmental challenges, this work highlights -often in some detail -alternative understandings of weather (Green et al, 2010), weather patterns (Monaghan, 2012;Weatherhead et al, 2010), weather forecasting (Chand et al, 2014;Jacobs, 2014) and of climate change (Cochran et al, 2013;Monaghan, 2012). While many of these studies represent an effort to draw scientific knowledge or framings of environmental problems into dialogue with local, cultural practices and knowledges, this representation of Indigenous weather knowledge has some significant limitations.…”