Localist movements in a global economy
Subtitle: sustainability, justice, and urban development in the United States
By: David J. Hess.
Series: Urban and industrial environments
Publisher: The MIT Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 323
ISBN-13: 9780262012645; 9780262512329
Subjects: Sustainable urban development -- United States; Globalization; Central-local government relations
Description: "The internationalization of economies and other changes that accompany globalization have brought about a paradoxical reemergence of the local. A significant but largely unstudied aspect of new local-global relationships is the growth of "localist movements"--Efforts to reclaim economic and political sovereignty for metropolitan and other subnational regions. In Localist Movements in a Global Economy, David Hess offers an overview of localism in the United States and assesses its potential to address pressing global problems of social justice and environmental sustainability.

Since the 1990s, more than 100 local business organizations have formed in the United States, and there are growing efforts to build local ownership in the retail, food, energy, transportation, and media industries. In this first social science study of localism, Hess adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines theoretical reflection, empirical research, and policy analysis. His perspective is not that of an uncritical localist advocate; he draws on his new empirical research to assess the extent to which localist policies can address sustainability and justice issues.

After a theoretical discussion of sustainability, the global corporate economy, and economic development, Hess looks at four specific forms of localism: "buy local" campaigns; urban agriculture; local ownership of electricity and transportation; and alternative and community media. He then examines "global localism"--Transnational local-to-local supply chains - and other economic policies and financial instruments that would create an alternative economic structure. Localism is not a panacea for globalization, he concludes, but a crucial ingredient in projects to build more democratic, just, and sustainable politics."--pub. desc.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Global problems and localist solutions; title: Economic development and localist knowledge; title: Can localism be just and sustainable?; title: The politics of local retail; title: The challenges of urban agriculture; title: Local energy and the public sector; title: Localism and the media; title: Policies for an alternative economy.