Embracing Locality in Local Economic Development

Scholarly research in urban and regional economic development has been heading unwittingly toward a postmodern embrace of locality. The literature on global economic restructuring, in ̄ uenced by regulation theory, has produced a wealth of case studies that exemplify the importance of the local. The public policy literature, having documented the decreasing in ̄ uence of the nation state, demonstrates the importance of local initiative in economic development. Attention has turned, in particular, to the importance of local civil society, from business coalitions to grassroots organisations. The collective questioning of grand theory and deterministic constructs leaves the research community open for building a new sense of purpose and process. To treat these main themes, this paper draws on scholarship from North America, Latin America and Europe.