Showing papers in "Territory, Politics, Governance in 2016"
TL;DR: The European Union (EU) is a real-time laboratory for experiments in government and governance with implications for redesigning polities, politics, and policies, especially in response to symptoms of political and policy failures and other crises as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This article interrogates the concepts in this journal's title and, drawing on the strategic-relational approach in social theory, explores their interconnections. This conceptual re-articulation is then contextualized in regard to the European Union (EU) as a political regime that serves as a real-time laboratory for experiments in government and governance with implications for redesigning polities, politics, and policies, especially in response to symptoms of political and policy failures and other crises. Mobilizing the territory-place-scale-network schema, and drawing on critical governance studies, this article offers an alternative account of these developments based on (1) their sociospatial and temporal complexities, (2) recognition that socio-spatial relations are objects and means of government and governance and not just sites where such practices occur, and (3) extension of this approach to multispatial meta-governance, that is, attempts to govern the government and governance of soci...
168 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that it may be fruitful to be clearer about the meaning of neoliberalism rather than adopting an encompassing constructivist framework; and that neoliberalism may not explain that much about the current transformation of urbanization processes and cities.
Abstract: Does neoliberalism matter for cities, urbanization processes, urban governance and policies? How and to what extent? What does this even mean? These questions are important as neoliberalism is a contentious and powerful political project and paradigm. This paper argues that: (1) it may be fruitful to be clearer about the meaning of neoliberalism rather than adopting an encompassing constructivist framework; and (2) that neoliberalism may not explain that much about the current transformation of urbanization processes and cities. Instead, these mechanisms need to be better specified and their limits defined: urban worlds and the urbanization processes of cities do not change all the time, in all ways. Rather than embracing the multiple, ever-changing forms of neoliberalism and the contructivist framework underpinning this position, this paper identifies a set of central points to define neoliberalism by contrast to liberalism, as one possible working definition of neoliberalism. Secondly, it discus...
80 citations
TL;DR: For almost two decades now, neoliberalism and neoliberalization have become the object of increasing interest not only in political debate but also in the social sciences, and in particular urban studies as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: For almost two decades now, neoliberalism and neoliberalization have become the object of increasing interest not only in political debate but also in the social sciences, and in particular urban studies. Because the definition of neoliberalism (or neoliberalization) is itself one dimension of this debate, we provisionally define it here as the set of intellectual streams, policy orientations and regulatory arrangements that strive to extend market mechanisms, relations, discipline and ethos to an ever-expanding spectrum of spheres of social activities, and all this through relying on strong State intervention. These streams and orientations are far from constituting a coherent and stable ensemble. That is the reason why many scholars prefer the notion of neoliberalization in order to depict the inherently fuzzy, diverse, contingent, ever-mutating and pathdependent processes of regulatory change that have been inspired by neoliberal ideas (BRENNER and THEODORE, 2002).
69 citations
TL;DR: The smart city discourse has gained increasing popularity within contemporary cities across the globe, mobilizing powerful economic actors and hegemonic public-private coalitions as discussed by the authors, and the smart city model of local economic regeneration and governance goes beyond this, nurturing a process of capitalist variegation.
Abstract: The smart city discourse has gained increasing popularity within contemporary cities across the globe, mobilizing powerful economic actors and hegemonic public–private coalitions. This article argues that, in spite of the common wisdom within critical urban scholarship looking at the smart city as a policy framework aligned with the interests of powerful private and public actors such as multinational corporations and the state, the smart city model of local economic regeneration and governance goes beyond this, nurturing a process of capitalist variegation, which comprises multinational high-tech firms but is not limited to them. Thanks to its adaptability, the smart city narrative can be applied to a variety of strategies of economic revitalization, as showed by the case of Turin in Italy analysed here: a constellation of initiatives including start-up innovative firms, infrastructure projects and the social economy. The article argues that this variegated economics of the smart city offers stil...
67 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the growth of South-South trade will be linked to a trade-off involving relatively easier access to Southern markets and potentially greater competition from competitors across the South.
Abstract: While South–South development cooperation has “win–-win” aims, it is unclear the extent to which its horizontal, mutually beneficial objectives translate into “South–South” trade and move beyond the asymmetrical nature of North–South trade. Global value chain and global production network research can make progress into an understanding of the dynamics of these emerging trade patterns. To date, however, such research has largely focused on the development prospects for firms and regions in the global South integrating into the production networks of lead firms from the global North. Evidence presented for the growth of South–South trade, including firms emerging from new home regions and the rise of new end markets in the global South, questions this focus. Emerging research suggests that the growth of South–South trade will be linked to a trade-off involving relatively easier access to Southern markets and potentially greater competition from competitors across the South. Avenues and questions fo...
64 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the European Union Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 is reoriented, away from the traditional goal of promoting balanced socio-economic development, towards a regional growth-policy perspective that puts the issue of competitiveness as a prerequisite for regional convergence.
Abstract: The paper argues that the European Union Cohesion Policy 2014–2020 is re-oriented, away from the traditional goal of promoting balanced socio-economic development, towards a regional growth-policy perspective that puts the issue of competitiveness as a prerequisite for regional convergence. Through the analysis of two sets of reforms of the new Cohesion Policy, namely the place-based approach and the conditionalities, thematic priorities and the performance reserve, we show that the new Cohesion Policy provides a novel policy context that is likely to exacerbate the already existing disparities in economic performance amongst the European Union territories and augment existing uneven spatial relations.
62 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed that the literature makes substantial errors in labelling many governmentality practices as Neo-liberal, because many of them are caused by pragmatic responses to technological and demographic change, while many others result from the opposite of neo-liberal ideologies.
Abstract: Although there have been substantial changes in the techniques of public management and the rhetoric of urban policy, there is little evidence of the massive withdrawal of the state, de-regulation of city life, reduction in urban public goods, or decline in the role of inter-regional transfers in regional development. These phenomena are frequently cited in the literature arguing that cities and urban policy have become neo-liberal. A principal reason why the critical neo-liberalist literature makes its largely erroneous claim about changes in urban management and policy is that it fails to master liberal economic concepts, and to clearly distinguish them from neo-liberal, illiberal, or laissez-faire reasoning. This paper shows that the literature makes substantial errors in labelling many governmentality practices as neo-liberal, because many of them are caused by pragmatic responses to technological and demographic change, while many others result from the opposite of neo-liberal ideologies, tha...
60 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce a new approach to the comparative analysis of multilevel governance (MLG), using water governance in North America as an illustrative example, and propose an innovative approach for scrutinizing the varieties of actor constellations in multi-level settings.
Abstract: This paper introduces a new approach to the comparative analysis of multilevel governance (MLG). Using water governance in North America as an illustrative example, it advances an innovative approach for scrutinizing the varieties of actor constellations in multilevel settings. While MLG is commonly conceptualized rather broadly as a system, we define MLG instead as an instance of a specific actor configuration that can rigorously be distinguished from other configurations, most notably intergovernmental relations (IGR). With this more conceptually bounded classification, we suggest that scholars can now more fruitfully engage in systematic analyses of MLG and IGR across different types of political systems (e.g. unitary, federal and supranational). Our hope is that this paper will provide some much needed conceptual and analytical clarification to an increasingly nebulous debate on what MLG actually is and what it means for students of political science, public policy and public administration.
48 citations
TL;DR: A study of the politics of development planning in London's South Bank to examine wider trends in the governance of contemporary cities is presented in this article, where the authors assess the impacts and outcomes of so-called new localist reforms and argue that we are witnessing two principal trends.
Abstract: This paper draws on a study of the politics of development planning in London's South Bank to examine wider trends in the governance of contemporary cities. It assesses the impacts and outcomes of so-called new localist reforms and argues that we are witnessing two principal trends. First, governance processes are increasingly dominated by anti-democratic development machines, characterized by new assemblages of public- and private-sector experts. These machines reflect and reproduce a type of development politics in which there is a greater emphasis on a pragmatic realism and a politics of delivery. Second, the presence of these machines is having a significant impact on the politics of planning. Democratic engagement is not seen as the basis for new forms of localism and community control. Instead, it is presented as a potentially disruptive force that needs to be managed by a new breed of skilled private-sector consultant. The paper examines these wider shifts in urban politics before focusing ...
46 citations
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the ways Dutch municipalities have developed practices to cushion and counteract aspects of such exclusionary national asylum policies, how these municipal actors justify these actions and how they thereby question the legitimacy of national policies and their execution.
Abstract: There is a major gap in Dutch refugee and immigration control policies between its ambitions and outcomes. It results in considerable numbers of rejected asylum seekers who, while they cannot be expelled from the country, are excluded from government support and from opportunities to work in the belief this should encourage voluntary departure. Destitution and homelessness can often be the result, an outcome which poses problems in cities, creates a challenge for local government and triggers calls for political change from non-governmental actors. This article analyses the ways Dutch municipalities have developed practices to cushion and counteract aspects of such exclusionary national asylum policies, how these municipal actors justify these actions and how they thereby question the legitimacy of national policies and their execution. The analysis reveals the tensions that exist in the governance of migration through national policies and local practices. While not discounting the possibility th...
42 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors ask how Western-educated scholars narrate their motives for working in higher education in the Gulf, and what this can tell us about shifting modes of governance of globalized higher education today.
Abstract: The global landscape of higher education has been in rapid flux, especially apparent in the recent proliferation of new universities, international partnerships, and foreign branch campuses being established in various nondemocratic states across Asia. This trend is exemplified in the Gulf Arab monarchies of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which have successfully managed to recruit Western-educated scholars to administer and staff these various higher education projects. In this article, I ask how Western-educated scholars narrate their motives for working in higher education in the Gulf, and what this can tell us about shifting modes of governance of globalized higher education today. Based on interviews conducted in Fall 2014, I illustrate how these diasporic academics are ‘normal’ entrepreneurial subjects acting on a wide range of opportunities and constraints, desires, and aspirations. I also show how their decisions to work in illiberal states are deeply stigmatized ‘at home', and argue t...
TL;DR: The authors examined the role of "ordinary" urban protest movements, using the example of a protest in Alexandra Park, an inner city park in Manchester, UK, where universalizing claims were made about democratic enfranchisement, the authorities were able to counter and diffuse these.
Abstract: This article aims to improve our understanding of post-politicization by examining the role of ‘ordinary’ urban protest movements, using the example of a protest in Alexandra Park, an inner city park in Manchester, UK. The critical literature on postpolitics has improved our understanding of exceptional, large-scale protests, but we know much less about how smaller scale protests emerge and in time wind down. Our research is revealing of the post-politicizing tactics of the city authorities in containing protest and of how the protesters lost momentum, focusing on contesting techno-managerial processes for consultation and undertaking scientific surveys. Whilst universalizing claims were made about democratic enfranchisement, the authorities were able to counter and diffuse these.
TL;DR: In this article, the existence and relative advantages of partially independent territories (PITs) have been argued in support of the existence of sovereign states in the Westphalian international system in which sovereign statehood is viewed as exclusive and unchallenged.
Abstract: It is widely believed that fully independent sovereign states are peerless and preeminent. They are viewed as the ultimate political system for producing economic and security advantages. It is also widely believed that they are the only constitutive unit in the international system that possesses territorial sovereignty. As distinct from these views, this paper will provide theoretical and empirical support to argue in favour of the existence and relative advantages of partially independent territories (PITs). PITs tend to deliver degrees of public goods, nationalistic reconciliation, and credible commitment advantages that sovereign states often cannot provide. The result is that PITs tend to have higher degrees of wealth and security as compared to their sovereign state counterparts. The advantages and widespread existence of PITs amend assumptions about the structure of the Westphalian international system in which sovereign statehood is viewed as exclusive and unchallenged.
TL;DR: The authors argue that interactions are central to these assumptions and argue that it is through interactions that things in space are made relational and that sociospatial relationality is enacted, and therefore suggest engaging more thoroughly with interactions as the practices and processes.
Abstract: Much of human geographic spatial theorizing has largely accepted space as relational and has moved from an engagement with fixed or static space to more dynamic notions of space such as space–time or sociospatial relations. Space is thereby inextricably linked to society and time. It is shaped by the preference of social (and political and economic) actors for specific spatial configurations and simultaneously shapes social (and political and economic) life. This paper argues that interactions are central to these assumptions – interactions between people, between societies, between political and economic actors, between objects and actors in space, and of course between society and space. It is through interactions that ‘things’ in space are made relational and that sociospatial relationality is enacted. We implicitly accept this centrality of interaction, however, hardly address it explicitly. This paper therefore suggests engaging more thoroughly with interactions as the practices and processes...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the concept of governance as a process of making and implementing decisions about the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) mega-event and examine the actors who prepare and realize the event, as well as the temporary or permanent societal structures formed around it.
Abstract: This article examines the concept of governance as a process of making and implementing decisions about the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) mega-event. In considering the actors who prepare and realize the event, as well as the temporary or permanent societal structures formed around it, ECOC governance becomes not merely an issue between the European Union on the one hand, and the ‘branded’ cities and their relevant national authorities on the other. Rather more creative, mixed partnerships emerge transcending spatial-administrative hierarchies, initiating co-operation along more horizontal, relational networks. Moments of inclusion and exclusion, conflict and cooperation play out in the governance of such mega-events, governance processes which are therefore contingent, emergent and transient. The study is based on ECOC documents, media sources and in-depth interviews with actors engaged in the projects. Through a focus on the Hungarian Pecs 2010 and Finnish Turku 2011 projects ECOC governanc...
TL;DR: The most recent issue of the journal Territory, Politics, Governance (TPGG) as mentioned in this paper provides an overview of the field of political geography and its connections to political science.
Abstract: NEW POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES Welcome to another issue of Territory, Politics, Governance that illustrates the expanding breadth and depth of an inter-disciplinary engagement with political geography. The papers represented here come from six disciplines – Geography, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, Economics, Area Studies – and have been written by interesting authors drawn from across the northern hemisphere – these scholars being based in the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Finland and Greece. Their topics and methodologies range from North American water governance to European Union (EU) diplomacy in Kenya, from the political science of intergovernmental relations to neo-Marxist situations of the state as a social relation, capturing how exciting and dynamic the field of territory, politics and governance has become. In doing so, they illustrate the importance of this journal in providing the collective platform for bringing together these bodies of critical thinking. It is a pleasure to position these papers, individually and collectively, in their broader intellectual environment of ‘new political geography’ (JONES et al., 2004, 2015a ,p . 2–4). There have, of course, been a number of different approaches to defining the shifting field of political geography. To some scholars, political geography has been about the study of political bounded territorial units, demarcated borders and administrative sub-divisions (ALEXANDER, 1963). For others, political geography is the study of political processes, differing from political science only in the emphasis given to geographical influences and outcomes and in the application of spatial analysis techniques (BURNETT and TAYLOR, 1981). A third approach holds that political geography should be defined in terms of its key concepts, which the proponents of this approach generally identify as territory and the state (COX, 2002, 2013). This approach shares with the earlier two approaches a desire to identify the ‘essence’ of political geography such that a definitive classification can be made of what is and what is not ‘political geography’. Yet, the doing of political geography, i.e. how it is actually researched, is much messier than these definitions suggest (witness the variety of papers published in Territory, Politics, Governance to date – compare, ELDEN, 2013 ;J ESSOP, 2016 ;P ECK, 2013 ;S ASSEN 2013; STORPER, 2014). As such, scholars, who have sought to define political geography in a much more open and inclusive manner, have taken a fourth and more relational approach. Agnew, for example, defines political geography as ‘the study of how politics
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine spaces of violence associated with the rape of civilians by UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti and consider how the status of forces agreement (SOFA), by which troop-contributing countries retain jurisdiction over their troops, create legal spaces in which victims and their home countries are marginalized from legal procedure and justice.
Abstract: The UN has no standing military forces and borrows troops and police to create UN peacekeeping forces for deployment into emergency situations. The countries that contribute these forces retain jurisdictional control over those individuals, such that neither the UN nor the state receiving peacekeeping forces may prosecute them for alleged crimes committed while they are deployed. This paper examines spaces of violence associated with the rape of civilians by UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti. We consider how the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), by which troop-contributing countries retain jurisdiction over their troops, create legal spaces in which victims and their home countries are marginalized from legal procedure and justice. A critical legal geography perspective, and insights on the practical application of jurisdiction provide a useful lens for assessing assemblages of violence and the spatial dissonance of justice illustrated by two case studies of civilian rape by UN peacekeeping forces....
TL;DR: The authors proposes to use Foucaldian analysis frameworks to inform us about neoliberalization, not so much from the viewpoint of political economics as in terms of the governance of individual behaviours.
Abstract: This article proposes to use Foucaldian analysis frameworks to inform us about neoliberalization, not so much from the viewpoint of political economics as in terms of the governance of individual behaviours. This theoretical ambition is based on the empirical analysis of contemporary policies in favour of safe, sustainable mobility in France. Characterized by the emphasis placed on users’ individual responsibility and their capacity to adopt economically rational behaviours on the one hand and by powerful moral injunctions for them to adopt the ‘right’ safe, healthy, sustainable behaviours on the other, a neoliberal and neohygienist rationality feeds these public policies. Legitimated by ‘noble causes’ and depoliticized, these policies give a powerful organization of traffic in the city whose social challenges are evaded. The use of morality works as a powerful democratic anesthetic that dissolves any objection. An examination of Safe and Sustainable Urban Transport Policies testifies to the renew...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the study of genocide and mass violence with a critical geographic lens and propose a framework, called territorial cleansing, that places such events within an idealized territorial conceptualization.
Abstract: The ‘geopolitical where’ of genocide and mass violence has been understudied, under-theorized, and underappreciated, particularly by those outside geography We examine the study of genocide and mass violence with a critical geographic lens and propose a framework, territorial cleansing, that places such events within an idealized territorial conceptualization We define territorial cleansing as a geopolitical project consisting of processes, policies, and actions designed by an in-group to remove an Othered group from a territory, where removal may mean physical expulsion or death but may include a range of other means, including ‘removal in place’ by such measures as coerced assimilation or suppression of group identity The process begins with the in-group's formulation of an imagined place that is idealized and valorized An environment is then created that allows for the removal of the undesired element and the realization of the imagined place Once the undesirable Others are identified and
TL;DR: For more than 15 years, the French central State created Etablissements publics d'amenagement in a series of major cities as discussed by the authors, which are in charge of large urban development projects mixing infrastructure, office development and housing projects and have been given formal authority over land use regulation.
Abstract: For more than 15 years, the French central State created Etablissements publics d’amenagement in a series of major cities. These EPAs are in charge of large urban development projects mixing infrastructure, office development and housing projects and have been given formal authority over land use regulation. The similarities between French EPAs and British Urban Development Corporations created in the 1980s are striking. In many ways, the case of the EPA fits with the neoliberalization framework provided by radical geographers. Nevertheless, this case also shows limits to the generalization of this theoretical framework. Firstly, the distinction between two clearly distinct periods characterized by different agendas, policy
instruments and systems of relations between actors and levels is far from convincing in the French case. Secondly, evolutions that could be attributed to neoliberal urbanism are rather the result of processes of rationalization within organizations or professions which may have little to do with neoliberalism, or the result of a transformation of the welfare State and the reassessment of ways of producing social justice. On this basis, we argue for theoretical frameworks that put neoliberalization at its right place and allow its articulation with other trends of change such as rationalization and the refinement of Welfare mechanisms.
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic analysis based on print-media of urban conflicts related to land-use changes that emerged during a critical time period in two Spanish metropolitan areas: Barcelona and Valencia.
Abstract: The first decade of the 21st century was a period of economic and demographic expansion and impressive urban development in Spain's big cities, including Barcelona and Valencia. This growth came along with a great effort to develop new territorial, sectoral and urban plans which would direct it, but which were not always successful. Nevertheless, these planning endeavors were not without critiques from social agents. In fact, throughout that decade we observed a growing distrust towards the institutional forms of citizen representation, and the ways and procedures of urban governance and spatial planning. This paper shows some important results of a systematic analysis based on print-media of urban conflicts related to land-use changes that emerged during a critical time period in two Spanish metropolitan areas: Barcelona and Valencia. The aim of this paper is to compare the evolution of urban conflicts in both cities that occurred between 2002 and 2012, from the point of view of social movements ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze processes of rescaling in the post-conflict environment, adding the focus on securitization and local-national power relations to the regional rescaling discourse.
Abstract: Cross-border interaction at the municipal level is central to processes of rescaling of social, economic and political systems to new regional levels. This article analyses processes of rescaling in the post-conflict environment, adding the focus on securitization and local–national power relations to the regional rescaling discourse. Twenty years after the signing of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, the Gulf of Aqaba serves as a case study for evaluating the stages, mechanisms and barriers of cross-border municipal cooperation between the cities of Aqaba and Eilat. The evolution of structures of cooperation between these municipal authorities demonstrates the potential of cross-border cooperation while continuous deference to national governments serves as a constant reminder of the post-conflict state of relations. Given these political circumstances, it is surprising to discover not the uniqueness of post-conflict cross-border cities but rather how these cities demonstrate compliance with patter...
TL;DR: In this article, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) uses geographical information systems (GIS) to learn from displaced persons about the international political geographies that produce displaceme.
Abstract: One of the greatest information communication technology revolutions impacting the lives of forcibly displaced persons is rooted in the geographical information systems (GIS) of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) operations. By involving forcibly displaced persons in the production of geographical knowledge regarding the regional territorial conditions of their own displacement, via participatory forms of GIS, UNHCR aims to contribute to their political empowerment. However, the manners in which PGIS is instituted by UNHCR encourages the displaced to govern and territorialize themselves as subjects abstracted from their experiences of persecution and flight. Effectively, UNHCR involves displaced persons as participants in the erasure of the geopolitical conditions of their displacement, neglecting what could be communicated about the politics of their movements. PGIS could be used to learn from displaced persons about the international political geographies that produce displaceme...
TL;DR: The authors investigates the resurgence of neo-liberalism during and after the Great Recession by exploring shock therapy reforms in the American state of Michigan using the framework of variegated Neo-liberalization.
Abstract: This paper investigates the resurgence of neo-liberalism during and after the Great Recession by exploring shock therapy reforms in the American state of Michigan. Using the framework of variegated neo-liberalization we demonstrate that even failed neo-liberal policies can be reused in divergent geographical and historical contexts. Further, we suggest that the jurisdictional and territorial autonomy of the state of Michigan allows its government to initiate market disciplinary restructuring in some cases at the expense of potential solutions to the crisis. In this process, the federal state's government actively overrides local and city governments and their voters. The resulting new policy configurations continue and deepen structural changes that favour neo-liberal ideologies. Our most telling example is a unique new neo-liberal formation, emergency management, a legitimate institution that allows an appointed individual to suspend democratic procedures and dismiss democratically elected local...
TL;DR: This issue of Territory, Politics, Governance as mentioned in this paper includes five papers that question issues of liberal normativity in Australian public life, and four of the five in particular might be thought of as provoking not just the "mainstr...
Abstract: This issue of Territory, Politics, Governance includes five papers that question issues of liberal normativity. Four of the five in particular might be thought of as provoking not just the ‘mainstr...