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Rethinking the changing structures of rural local government – State power, rural politics and local political strategies?

Pemberton, S; Goodwin, M

Authors

M Goodwin



Abstract

There is a notable absence in contemporary rural studies – of both a theoretical and empirical nature – concerning the changing nature of rural local government. Despite the scale and significance of successive rounds of local government reorganisation in the UK, very little has been written on this topic from a rural perspective. Instead research on local political change has tended to concentrate on local governance and local partnerships – on the extra-governmental aspects of the governance system – rather than on local government itself. In contrast, this paper draws upon strategic-relational state theory to explore the changing structures and institutions of rural local government, and analyse how these can be related to the changing state strategies of those groups which are politically powerful in rural areas. In this respect, the paper draws on current and previous rounds of local government reorganisation to illustrate how new objects of governance, new state strategies and new hegemonic projects are emerging as a consequence of such restructuring processes.

Acceptance Date Jan 22, 2010
Publication Date Jan 22, 2010
Journal Journal of Rural Studies
Print ISSN 0743-0167
Publisher Elsevier
Pages 272 - 283
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2009.12.005
Keywords state power; rural local government; reorganisation; rural politics; governance
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2009.12.005