This document appears to be notes from a conference presentation on localism, governance, and urban policy. Some key points: - It discusses the "exquisite paradox" of localism and questions how local autonomy can be balanced with centralized control. - References Bourdieu's concept of "two hands" to examine the tensions between the regulatory/controlling "right hand" of the state and the policy/funding "left hand" in urban governance. - Addresses how austerity localism represents a further devolution and "exit strategy" for the state, shifting responsibility down while maintaining top-down control over local activities.

1. D R N I C O L A H E A D L A M
H E S E L T I N E I N S T I T U T E F O R
P U B L I C P O L I C Y A N D P R A C T I C E
U N I V E R S I T Y O F L I V E R P O O L
P O S T - C R A S H C I T I E S C O N F E R E N C E
U N I V E R S I T Y O F Y O R K
5 T H J U L Y 2 0 1 3
Exquisite paradox of
localism, gaming the north, & the
long bust

2. 1.WHY EXQUISITE PARADOX?
2.SCALING BOURDIEU’S 2 HANDS?
3. THE URBAN INDUSTRY
4. ORIGINAL:MODERN (?)
Build tents not temples…
the sound of one hand clapping…

3. Georg Simmel
 “Economic facts are
social facts are psychic
facts are aesthetic facts”
 The metropolis & mental
life…

4. Who/whom? & where..
Fundamental questions of
constitutional
structures, central-local
relations, institutional co-
ordination, and public
expenditure… are addressed
as the perhaps
unglamorous dimensions
of sub-national government
and governance.
(Pike and Tomaney 2004)

5. 1. Exquisite paradox of “localism”
“WELL THAT‟S NOT THE WAY, BUT THAT‟S NOT THE WAY
THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT DOES THINGS, (Y‟KNOW)
THERE‟S NOTHING ABOUT “DO IT THIS WAY”, IT‟S ABOUT
CRUDELY, WE’LL CONTINUE TO MAKE YOUR LIFE SO
UNPLEASANT UNTIL YOU CAN FIGURE YOURSELF
INTO A WAY IN WHICH WE FIND ACCEPTABLE, IF I
WERE BEING CRUDE ABOUT IT, (LAUGHTER) ERM BUT WE
WON’T TELL YOU WHAT THAT IS.”
(INTERVIEW MAY 2013)

6. Chris Hood

7. (Hobbes)Bourdieu‟s 2-hands

8. 2. The degeneration of regeneration
Intransitive verbs – no subject no object
“Big tent” 3rd way urbanism and the post-political
Urban strategic milieu - policy not politics*
State as conundrum (problematic)
Urban “industry” & panjandrum
Spatially extended product: “Brand, plan & strategy”
Place marketing – symbolic and visible

9. Urban industry

11. (3) Long boom : austerity localism
neo-liberalism squared “debate”
“people not place”
hands of the state
right punishes / left strokes
Austerity localism
exit strategy for the state
barnet „graph of doom‟ – scripts - technologies

12. Urban Right hand
Local/Urban regulation
Fiscal (fiduciary) taxation – redistribution (damping)
Cuts - Local Govt Finance - Business Rates
Spatial – control through spatial planning system
Development Control
Cognitive – Local govt subservience / lack of
autonomy

13. Urban Left hand
Local/Urban policy
Fiscal (?) Regeneration, economic
development, urban policy - Social welfare spending -
£ “Damping”
EU structural funding
Spatial Regeneration / Area Based Initiatives
Cognitive – public service ethos

14. Gaming (1)

15. Gaming (2)