Why are some regional development strategies adopted and others rejected? Only limited systematic attention has been paid to the politics of regional policy, including the role of institutions, discourse, and political debate in shaping this major area of public policy. The book develops an institutionalist approach to the study of regional policy, capable of spanning major European development paradigms and accounting for the dynamic relationship between organisations, policies and political discourse. This conceptual framework is then applied to the Scottish Development Agency, a development body famed across Europe for its innovative policies but surrounded by political controversy in Scotland. A detailed study of corporate strategies, policy implementation, and the wider British environment questions existing interpretations of the organisation which tend to vilify anti-interventionist Thatcherites or glorify shrewd development professionals. Instead the author proposes an alternative synthesis which highlights the interplay between institutions, discourse and regional development in the politics of regional policy.

Examines the concepts that have powerfully influenced development policy and more broadly looks at the role of ideas in international development institutions and how they have affected current development discourse.

The manner in which people have been talking and writing about ‘development’ and the rules according to which they have done so have evolved over time. Development Discourse and Global History uses the archaeological and genealogical methods of Michel Foucault to trace the origins of development discourse back to late colonialism and notes the significant discontinuities that led to the establishment of a new discourse and its accompanying industry. This book goes on to describe the contestations, appropriations and transformations of the concept. It shows how some of the trends in development discourse since the crisis of the 1980s – the emphasis on participation and ownership, sustainable development and free markets – are incompatible with the original rules and thus lead to serious contradictions. The Eurocentric, authoritarian and depoliticizing elements in development discourse are uncovered, whilst still recognizing its progressive appropriations. The author concludes by analysing the old and new features of development discourse which can be found in the debate on Sustainable Development Goals and discussing the contribution of discourse analysis to development studies. This book is aimed at researchers and students in development studies, global history and discourse analysis as well as an interdisciplinary audience from international relations, political science, sociology, geography, anthropology, language and literary studies. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315753782, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Postcolonialism, Decoloniality and Development is a comprehensive revision of Postcolonialism and Development (2009) that explains, reviews and critically evaluates recent debates about postcolonial and decolonial approaches and their implications for development studies. By outlining contemporary theoretical debates and examining their implications for how the developing world is thought about, written about and engaged with in policy terms, this book unpacks the difficult, complex and important aspects of the relationships between postcolonial theory, decoloniality and development studies. The book focuses on the importance of development discourses, the relationship between development knowledge and power, and agency within development. It includes significant new material exploring the significance of postcolonial approaches to understanding development in the context of rapid global change and the dissonances and interconnections between postcolonial theory and decolonial politics. It includes a new chapter on postcolonial theory, development and the Anthropocene that considers the challenges posed by the current global environmental crisis to both postcolonial theory and ideas of development. The book sets out an original and timely agenda for exploring the intersections between postcolonialism, decolonialism and development and provides an outline for a coherent and reinvigorated project of postcolonial development studies. Engaging with new and emerging debates in the fields of postcolonialism and development, and illustrating these through current issues, the book continues to set agendas for diverse scholars working in the fields of development studies, geography, anthropology, politics, cultural studies and history.

Actors and institutions in localities and regions across the world are seeking prosperity and well-being amidst tumultuous and disruptive shifts and transitions generated by: an increasingly globalised, knowledge-intensive capitalism; global financial instability, volatility and crisis; concerns about economic, social and ecological sustainability, climate change and resource shortages; new multi-actor and multi-level systems of government and governance and a re-ordering of the international political economy; state austerity and retrenchment; and, new and reformed approaches to intervention, policy and institutions for local and regional development. Local and Regional Development provides an accessible, critical and integrated examination of local and regional development theory, institutions and policy in this changing context. Amidst its rising importance, the book addresses the fundamental issues of ‘what kind of local and regional development and for whom?’, its purposes, principles and values, frameworks of understanding, approaches and interventions, and integrated approaches to local and regional development throughout the world. The approach provides a theoretically informed, critical analysis of contemporary local and regional development in an international and multi-disciplinary context, grounded in concrete empirical analysis from experiences in the global North and South. It concludes by identifying what might constitute holistic, inclusive, progressive and sustainable local and regional development, and reflecting upon its limits and political renewal.

The strategies and practical approaches for socio-economic development are undergoing systemic changes under the influence of new developments in global economic systems and markets. The most significant factors influencing such changes are connected to the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), which is impacting all economic systems to a greater or lesser extent. The creation of the digital economy and transition to Industry 4.0 particularly increases the significance of hi-tech for socio-economic development. Secondly, there is now a transition underway from a period of unlimited globalization and comprehensive integration to more limited globalization and selective economic integration. The growing importance of regionalization on the global economic system is manifested in the formation and rapid development of new integration unions at the regional or country level (e.g., the EU and the EAEU), and company level (e.g., regional sectoral economic clusters, special economic areas, technological parks, and innovative networks). Thirdly, there’s an urgent need for faster innovation, which leads to the formation of more innovative economies. The global financial crisis drew attention to the problems of managing sustainability and achieving balance in socio-economic development. The formation and exponential growth of the information society, based on digital technologies, is now stimulating the growth and significance of corporate social and environmental responsibility as a prerequisite for entrepreneurial success. Thus, the paradigm of socio-economic development is changing from absolute rationality (economic effectiveness) and stability – which has historically been associated with problems of stagnation – to responsibility (limited and socially-oriented rationality) and dynamism (quick innovative development based on leading technologies). This book aims to provide a scientific substantiation for this new paradigm.

As we move further into the 21st century, the prominence of regions can no longer be taken for granted. A certain skepticism has developed with regard to the feasibility of marginal regions achieving self-sustained growth and states have maintained their role as regulators of economic and social activities. Thus, the notion of the region and its significance is currently much debated and contested. Illustrated with a wide range of European case studies, this volume brings together the main strands of these contestations, as economic, political and social actors attempt to institutionalise their vision of their region as the dominant form of territorial governance. It questions both the external delimitation and the internal constitution of regions and critically analyses the societal processes circumscribing ways in which regions are created, maintained and undermined. The volume provides a wide range of analytical perspectives to enable an understanding of the current mosaic of regionalism in Europe.

This book focuses on the main challenges that cities, regions and other territories at sub-national level face when it comes to designing and implementing a territorial strategy for economic development and competitiveness. There is a widespread recognition that territories need to construct strategies that focus on shaping sustainable competitive advantages. To do this they draw upon their own unique resources and capabilities alongside intelligence on existing technological and market trends. However, there is still a notorious lack of both theoretical and empirical research on this issue. The first part of this book develops a theoretical framework for understanding and analysing territorial strategy. This framework asks three questions of territorial strategy – what for, what, and how – looking closely at the key relationship between strategy and policy. The second part is dedicated to exploring this framework in practice through application to a series of unique cases from around the world at different territorial levels, from regions such as the Basque Country, Navarre and Murcia in Spain, Okanagan (British Columbia) in Canada, Wales in the United Kingdom, and the cross-border region of the Øresund in Denmark–Sweden, as well as the city of Rafaela in Argentina. Each case offers something different and enables the framework to be thoroughly tested, generating concluding reflections that add real value for scholars and policy-makers interested in and working in the field of territorial strategy. This volume is intended for the academic community, the policy community (government leaders, policy-makers, policy researchers and consultants) and university students and teachers at different levels interested in the areas of territorial competitiveness, regional development, competitiveness policies and processes of territorial strategy.

The Routledge Handbook of Institutions and Planning in Action contains a selection of 25 chapters prepared by specialized international scholars of urban planning and urban studies focusing on the question of how institutional innovation occurs in practices of action. The contributors share expertise on institutional innovation and philosophical pragmatism. They discuss the different facets of these two conceptual frameworks and explore the alternative combinations through which they can be approached. The relevance of these conceptual lines of thought will be exemplified in exploring the contemporary practices of sustainable (climate-proof) urban transition. The aim of the handbook is to give a boost to the turn of institutional analysis in the context of action in changing cities. Both philosophical pragmatism and institutional innovation rest on wide international uses in social sciences and planning studies, and may be considered as complementary for many reasons. However, the combination of these different approaches is all but evident and creates a number of dilemmas. After an encompassing introductory section entitled Institutions in Action, the handbook is further divided into the following sections: Institutional innovation Pragmatism: The Dimension of Action On Justification Cultural and Political Institutions in Action Institutions and Urban Transition

Local and regional development is an increasingly global issue. For localities and regions, the challenge of enhancing prosperity, improving wellbeing and increasing living standards has become acute for localities and regions formerly considered discrete parts of the ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ worlds. Amid concern over the definitions and sustainability of ‘development’, a spectre has emerged of deepened unevenness and sharpened inequalities in the development prospects for particular social groups and territories. Local and Regional Development engages and addresses the key questions: what are the principles and values that shape definitions and strategies of local and regional development? What are the conceptual and theoretical frameworks capable of understanding and interpreting local and regional development? What are the main policy interventions and instruments? How do localities and regions attempt to effect development in practice? What kinds of local and regional development should we be pursuing? This book addresses the fundamental issues of ‘what kind of local and regional development and for whom?’, frameworks of understanding, and instruments and policies. It outlines what a holistic, progressive and sustainable local and regional development might constitute before reflecting on its limits and political renewal. With the growing international importance of local and regional development, this book is an essential student purchase, illustrated throughout with maps, figures and case studies from Asia, Europe, and Central and North America.