From Brexit to the Break-Up of … England? Thinking in and Beyond the Nation

2020 ◽  
pp. 161-174
Author(s):  
Allan Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Social Geography ◽  
Uneven Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Difference ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Geographical Patterns ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Central Pillar ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic

The chapter sets the experience of Brexit in the context of the UK’s reshaping and redefinition over recent decades, with a particular focus on the troubled (re)emergence of ‘England’ as an imagined political territory. It analyses Brexit as a symptom of the political, economic and social geography of the UK, particularly its uneven development in a spatial polity dominated by London and the South East of England. The divisions within the UK were reflected in the voting patterns of the 2016 referendum and this may have significant implications for the UK’s future as a multinational state, and particularly for England as a central pillar of that state. The chapter explores some of the key factors that underlay the geographical patterns of the ways in which England and its regions voted in the referendum, highlighting the importance of uneven development in generating significant political outcomes and embedding social difference in place.

scholarly journals Europe and/or the UK: Post-Brexit urban and regional development futures – A special issue

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
Nick Henry ◽  
Adrian Smith
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Intellectual Life ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Epochal Change ◽  
Urban And Regional Development ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic

It was over 25 years ago that European Urban and Regional Studies was launched at a time of epochal change in the composition of the political, economic and social map of Europe. Brexit has been described as an epochal moment – and at such a moment, European Urban and Regional Studies felt it should offer the space for short commentaries on Brexit and its impact on the relationships of place, space and scale across the cultural, economic, social and political maps of the ‘new Europes’. Seeking contributions drawing on the theories, processes and patterns of urban and regional development, the following provides 10 contributions on Europe, the UK and/or their relational geographies in a post-Brexit world. What the drawn-out and highly contested process of Brexit has done for the populace, residents and ex-pats of the UK is to reveal the inordinate ways in which our mental, everyday and legal maps of the regions, nations and places of the UK in Europe are powerful, territorially and rationally inconsistent, downright quirky at times but also intensely unequal. First, as the UK exits the Single Market, the nature of the political imagination needed to create alternatives to the construction of new borders and new divisions, even within a discourse of creating a ‘global Britain’, remains uncertain. European Urban and Regional Studies has always been a journal dedicated to the importance of pan-European scholarly integration and solidarity and we hope that it will continue to intervene in debates over what alternative imaginings to a more closed and introverted future might look like. Second, as the impacts of COVID-19 continue to change in profound ways how we think, work and travel across European space, we will need to find new forms of integration and new forms of engagament in intellectual life and policy development. European Urban and Regional Studies remains commited to forging such forms.

Rethinking PGIS: Participatory or (post)political GIS?

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Radil ◽  
Matthew B. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Progressive Change ◽  
Participatory Gis ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Political Intervention ◽  
Political Economic

Participatory GIS (PGIS) emerged from the contentious GIS debates of the 1990s as a means of political intervention in issues of social and environmental justice. PGIS has since matured into a distinct subfield in which GIS is used to enhance the political engagement of historically marginalized people and to shape political outcomes through mapping. However, this has proven to be difficult work. We suggest that this is because PGIS, particularly in its community development incarnations, though well-intentioned in endeavoring to enhance the voices of the excluded, is inherently limited because it primarily aims to enhance the inclusion and participation of the historically marginalized by working within established frameworks of institutionalized governance in particular places. This, we suggest, has left this mode of PGIS ill-equipped to truly challenge the political-economic structures responsible for (re)producing the very conditions of socio-economic inequality it strives to ameliorate. As a result, we argue that PGIS has become de-politicized, operating within, rather than disrupting, existing spheres of political-economic power. Moving forward, we suggest that PGIS is in need of being retheorized by engaging with the emergent post-politics literature and related areas of critical social and political theory. We argue that by adopting a more radical conception of democracy, justice, and ‘the political’, PGIS praxis can be recentered around disruption rather than participation and, ultimately, brought closer to its self-proclaimed goal of supporting progressive change for the historically marginalized.

Institutions and Discourses on Childcare for Children Under the Age of Three in a Comparative French-Czech Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Hašková ◽  
Radka Dudová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
The Political ◽  
Formal Care ◽  
Framing Analysis ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Political Economic

The article compares the development of policies pertaining to care for preschool children in the course of the second half of the 20th century in France and in the Czech Republic. It aims at identifying the key factors that led to the differentiation of the policies and institutions in the two countries, especially with respect to support for extra-familial care and formal care institutions (nurseries). We build on the theories of ‘new’ institutionalisms and we apply framing analysis, which allows us to understand the formation of ideas that precede policy changes. Specifically, we discuss the role of expert discourse and the framings of care for young children in the process of social policy change. We argue that expert knowledge in interaction with the political, economic, and demographic contexts and how it has been presented in public have had a fundamental impact on the formation of childcare policies and institutions in the two countries.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Queen’s Speech on COVID-19 from the Perspective of Transitivity

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Luo Yu
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
The Political ◽  
British Government ◽  
Public Speech ◽  
Verbal Process ◽  
Concept Of Function ◽  
The Face ◽  
Material Process ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic

The Queen Elizabeth II recently made her fifth public speech on coVID-19 since taking office. Through the use of systemic functional linguistics to analyze her speech text, this article mainly analyzes the text from the perspective of the concept of function and finds this speech text involves only four processes: material process, metal process, relational process and verbal process. This article discusses the political, economic and cultural characteristics of the UK’s response to coVID-19. In addition, this paper compares China and the UK, and discusses the different measures taken in the face of the epidemic and the underlying cultural background. This study found out that the Queen’s speech is mainly aimed at expressing gratitude to those working on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic and encouraging people to respond to the call of the British government and face the epidemic positively. The analysis of speech with the transitivity can enrich and update the study contents of transitivity.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Jeremy Green
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
The United States ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
The Us ◽  
Cooperative Partnership ◽  
Independent States ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the close postwar association between the United Kingdom and the United States, which is known by a single mnemonic: the “Special Relationship.” It refers to an unusually close and cooperative partnership between two independent states, encompassing diplomatic, military-strategic, political, economic, and cultural spheres. For the UK, the Special Relationship has offered a means to preserve great-power status even though its capacity for unilateral action in pursuit of foreign policy objectives is greatly diminished. For the US, the UK's possession of nuclear weapons, access to political and military intelligence, and position on the United Nations Security Council are valuable appendages. Despite the occasional spat and periods of cooling, diplomatic relations between the two states have remained extraordinarily close. But for all that the concept of the Special Relationship has illuminated, it has also obscured much—for example, the political economy of Anglo-America, buried beneath more fashionable scholarly preoccupations with diplomacy, grand strategy, and the cultural and sentimental linkages between the two states. Thus, this book examines the political economy of the relationship between the UK and the US.

Punic Heritage in Tunisia

2019 ◽  
pp. 728-742
Author(s):  
Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels ◽  
Peter van Dommelen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
International Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Sector ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Central Pillar ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Economic Foundations

Phoenician and Punic studies have an enduring impact today, as the Phoenician and Punic past has become interwoven with contemporary society in Tunisia and elsewhere. In this chapter the authors address the political, economic, and symbolic contexts of Phoenician and Punic heritage within contemporary Tunisia, and also position Tunisia within the wider Mediterranean and international community more broadly. The modern significance of Punic heritage is primarily defined by tourism. The cultural content of Tunisia’s heritage has been used to project an image of intercultural coexistence and tolerance to foreign audiences of tourists, at the same time that heritage tourism has contributed to increasing economic inequality. The entanglement of conservation and economic development in Tunisia means that continuing international calls “to save Carthage” will prove ineffective unless development is made a central pillar of management plans for the site. This would mean taking seriously the political and economic contexts of Punic heritage in Tunisia, and especially recognizing the dire economic straits that Tunisia faces, in which tourism—including heritage tourism—constitutes a core economic sector. The difficult economic foundations of Ben Ali’s repressive rule, the 2010–2011 revolution in response, and the protracted recovery from both, together embed Punic heritage and its economic functions within a precarious time for Tunisian society and its future.

scholarly journals Evolution of a social dynamic in a changing landscape: the case of Argos (Argolis, Greece) in the Mycenaean period

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Baeriswyl
Keyword(s):  
Social Geography ◽  
Second Step ◽  
The Political ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Gradual Decline ◽  
Social Dynamic ◽  
The Status ◽  
Middle Helladic ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Transitional Phase

Argos in the Mycenaean period consists of a real enigma. Compared to its neighbours, amongst others Mycenae, Tiryns and Midea, Argos, after being a flourishing center in the Middle Helladic period, lost of it’s importance until the End of the Mycenaean palatial period, while maintaining a continuous occupation. During the transitional phase (MH III/LH I), and despite the fact that some parts of the argiv settlement continues to grow, as shown in particular by the work undertaken on the fortified acropolis of the Aspis, Argos, will experience a gradual decline as shown in particular through the abandonment of certain residential areas and the relocation of some population groups within and probably beyond its borders. According to one possible scenario, a group of people moved, at the very beginning of MH III, from Argos to Mycenae participating in the spectacular rise of Mycenae from the late MH period and onwards.Through this communication, we will first try to demonstrate, based on the archaeological reality, the status of Argos from the transitional phase (MH III/LH I) and during the LH period within the organization of the Argolis. In a second step, we will try to define the causes that influenced the evolution of this status. We will demonstrate how a series of natural disasters and in particular the eruption of Thera may have influenced the political, economic and social geography of the Argolis to the detriment of Argos. Based on the archaeological discoveries and the Adaptive Cycle (AC) model, we will show how some sites or parts of the Argolis functioned according to a positive/negative system throughout the protohistoric periods.

‘India calling to the far away towns’

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Taylor ◽  
Peter Bain
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic

In recent years prominent companies have migrated call centre services to India provoking much-publicized fears for the future of UK employment. This article challenges the widely-held assumption that offshoring voice services is a seamless undertaking, principally through an investigation of the Indian call centre labour process. This enquiry is informed initially by an analysis of the political-economic factors driving offshoring and shaping the forms of work organization to have emerged in India. A critical review of literature on call centre work organization provides a conceptual framework, through which Indian developments are analysed. Data comes from fieldwork conducted in India and a complete audit of the Scottish industry, through which UK trends can be evaluated. We conclude that the Indian industry reproduces in exaggerated and culturally-distinctive forms, a labour process that has proved problematical for employers and employees alike in the UK and elsewhere.

scholarly journals Pulled in and pushed out of politics: The impact of neoliberalism on young people’s differing political consumerist motivations in the UK and Greece

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212093552
Author(s):  
Georgios Kyroglou ◽  
Matt Henn
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Political consumerism refers to citizens’ use of boycotting and buycotting as they seek to influence political outcomes within the marketplace rather than through more traditional routes such as voting. However, given the pressure that neoliberalist forces exert on the marketplace, the lack of literature problematising the relationship between political consumerism and neoliberalism is somewhat surprising. Addressing this gap, we examine how neoliberalism impacts youth political consumerism in the UK and Greece. Focus-group findings suggest the existence of two inter-connected effects. Firstly, we detect a neoliberal ‘push effect’ away from electoral politics. Secondly, we discern a parallel ‘pull effect’ as young people seek the ‘political’ within the marketplace. In Greece, youth political consumerism seems to result primarily from distrust of institutional political actors. In contrast, young political consumers in the UK appear to be principally driven by confidence in the capacity of the market to respond to their pressing needs.

The Reconfigured Institutional Architecture of the State

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Maman ◽  
Zeev Rosenhek
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Institutional Dynamics ◽  
Ministry Of Finance ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Institutional Architecture ◽  
Macroeconomic Management

This chapter examines the institutional dynamics that have marked the reconfiguration of the Israeli state in the course of the transition to a neoliberal regime. In analyzing the transformation of the state and its relationships with the economy, it first assesses changes in the institutional architecture of the state and then discusses the modes of action of pivotal state agencies and the patterns of relationships among them. Specifically, the ascendency of the two most powerful state agencies in charge of macroeconomic management—the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel—is examined, as well as the ways in which these actors promoted the adoption of particular reforms as key factors in the institutionalization of the neoliberal regime. The chapter claims that the incremental liberalization of the Israeli political economy was fundamentally molded by actions and interactions among state agencies striving to further their position within the political–economic field.

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