CCIG/OpenSpace Workshop - Local Action in an era of localism?

This one day workshop brought together researchers with an interest in making sense of current UK government urban and social policy around ideas of ‘localism, and what this means for the experiences of local communities. We were concerned with how political voice and agency might be changing at a local level, especially in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and localities, which are feeling the effects of austerity and welfare cuts. Through two panels of short presentations and discussion, the day explored questions including:

-       How far does ‘localism’ express a real set of changes to practices of urban and social policy governance, and how can the (apparently contradictory) politics of localism best be understood?

-       What does the government’s ‘localism’ agenda mean in practice in localities of different scales, and to different actors (eg voluntary and community sector, private sector, local government)?

-       How does the context of welfare cuts and austerity interact with experiences of localism, both for local government and for those in disadvantaged communities?

-       How should researchers in academia and elsewhere respond to policy paradigms such as ‘localism’?

Presenters spoke on the following topics:

Nick Clarke (Southampton University) and Allan Cochrane (Open University) 'Geographies and Politics of Localism'
Joe Painter (Durham University) 'Localism, urbanism and nostalgia'
Janet Newman (Open University) 'Working the spaces of localism'
Joe Penny (New Economics Foundation) 'The New Austerity  and the Big Society‘
Ellie Jupp (Open University) 'Making sense of  fragments: localism and neighbourhood activism‘
Sue Brownill (Oxford Brookes University) 'Neighbourhood Planning and Localism‘,
Catherine Durose (Birmingham University) 'Neighbourhood working in austerity: where now for front-line work with communities?'
Liz Richardson (Manchester University) 'Managing risk and accountability in localism’

Presentations and discussions throughout the day considered further  issues including urban vs rural settings for this agenda; what kinds of ‘politics’ might be opened up at a local level and the role of particular local histories and forms of community activity; and who gets to speak on behalf of ‘the local’.  We talked about different forms of local activity including faith based organising, notions of community development (including asset-based models) as opposed to community organising and the different histories of these practices, including community organising as a US model.  Ideas about ‘invited’ as opposed to unsolicited community participation were discussed, and a sense that the current UK government wanted to encourage the latter in some ways, and how equitable this is. We also discussed some specific mechanisms now available to local groups, including neighbourhood planning; as well as some specific empirical experiences around acting at a local level in a time of austerity and welfare cuts, and how academics might interact with communities of practice in this landscape.

Some presentations and material from the day can be downloaded below.

A follow-up event is planned later in the year at University of Birmingham.  Please contact Eleanor.jupp@open.ac.uk or c.durose@bham.ac.uk if you would like to be kept informed about this.

Supported by OpenSpace Research Centre and Centre for Citizenship, Communities and Identities (Families, Relationships and Communities Programme) at the Open University

Attachment	Size
Ellie jupp workshop final.pdf	156.62 KB
AHRC CC CLG community governance for OU 7th march 2013.pdf	353.82 KB
clarke and cochrane.pdf	346.67 KB
Local action in a era of localism.pdf	148.88 KB
Local action workshop OU.pdf	112.19 KB
localism newman.pdf	266.5 KB
neighbourhoodplanningsb.pdf	855.77 KB