Governance, institutional capacity and partnerships in local economic development: theoretical issues and empirical evidence from the Humber Sub-region

Recent research on local and regional economic development has focused upon transformations in local governance and institutional capacity. It has been argued that local authorities have ceded power to other actors and institutions involved in economic development and regeneration, and that the success of local and regional economic development is closely related to the strength of 'institutional capacity' within an area. In this paper, we examine these claims with reference to the operation of EU Structural Funds in the Humber Sub-region of the UK. Previous research on local governance and institutional capacity has had a limited empirical focus, drawing conclusions from studies of either economically 'successful' regions or regions undergoing regulatory and institutional transformation and precluding analysis of the nature and conditions of local governance and institutional capacity in less developed regions. Our case study evidence not only suggests that arguments about the declining influence of the local state are overdrawn, but also indicates a need for more nuanced accounts of the role of institutional capacity in regional development.     

Man of faith and political commitment: Alcide De Gasperi in the history of Europe

Since the early 1980s historians and others have been radically revising established understandings of the Italian south. New research has undermined the notion of a dichotomy between north and south and has begun to challenge the parameters of the Southern Question itself. The books reviewed here reflect, comment upon and drive forward this process of revision. One suggestion is that representations of the south as 'backward', 'picturesque' or fundamentally 'different' are the product of ideological and political elaboration rather than the reflection of any fundamental reality, and should be seen as part of a neo-Orientalist discourse which justified southern subordination. While acknowledging the strengths of this new history of the Mezzogiorno, this article argues that the neo-Orientalist explanation risks simply restating southern difference and subordination in another form. What is needed instead is a new, and less dichotomized, approach to southern Italian cultures and a recognition of the complexities - and hence the importance - of southern identities.     

Evaluation of the spatial and economic effectiveness of industrial land policies in northwest Europe

This article stems from the discrepancy between the lack of attention paid to industrial land policy by academics and the predominant thought among elected representatives and development agencies, i.e. that industrial land policy plays a key role in the creation of growth and new jobs. The article begins with a reflection on the literature, which stresses the need to develop knowledge on industrial land policies. To help fill this research gap, we have developed an exploratory piece of research on the theme of their ‘spatial’ and ‘economic effectiveness’, on the basis of statistical analyses dedicated to seven countries. As regards ‘spatial effectiveness’, the results underline significant national differentials in terms of land consumption on the one hand, while highlighting the economic sprawl that affects France and Belgium on the other hand. As regards ‘economic effectiveness’, our results show that the impact of the development of economic estates on growth depends largely on regional contexts. In particular, the ‘intermediate regions’ in western Germany stand out as belonging to a specific context where land policies seem particularly effective from an economic standpoint. By contrast, the ‘economic effectiveness’ of industrial land policies requires readjustments in the Netherlands as well as in most ‘predominantly rural regions, close to a city’.     

日本批准《1930年伦敦海军条约》过程及对其政局的影响

1930年伦敦海军会议是对美、英、日、法、意五国海军辅助舰作出限制的一次会议。会上签订的《1930年伦敦海军条约》在日本国内的批准过程颇费周章,在政府做出大量让步的情形下条约才勉强获得批准。其结果对日本政局以及政治走向产生了重大影响：条约的签订非但未能有效遏制法西斯势力的崛起,延续政党政治的强势力量,反而使海军内部分裂、派系之争明显,并加速了日本对美国发动战争的进程。     

The sustainable development paradox: urban political economy in the United States and Europe * Rob Krueger and David Gibbs (Eds)

Recent work in the field of urban political ecology has broughtto attention the lack of critical discussion surrounding notionsof ‘sustainability’ in local planning and policydiscussions. In The Sustainable Development Paradox: Urban politicaleconomy in the United States and Europe Rob Krueger and DavidGibbs edit a comprehensive volume that highlights many currentcritical conversations about sustainability. Work on sustainabilitygenerally begins by stating that it is a widely recognized conceptwith no clear definition and therefore the need to define itbecomes paramount. Krueger and Gibbs go beyond this tired tropeand challenge current theorizations of sustainability whiletaking up critical analysis of its use in material practice.The question that runs throughout the volume is: how can wediscuss achieving a state of sustainability under the currenteconomic system? Through detailed case studies, the authorstake a distinctly geographical approach     

Strassburg, 1605: The Origins of the Newspaper in Europe

English-language examinations of the history of the press oftenbegin with the 1620s or the 1640s, when this new medium beganto be more widespread in England. On the continent, however,around the year 1600 all the necessary technical, infrastructuraland communication elements were already in place for the developmentof the modern newspaper. Book-printing techniques enabled themass production of news reports; a regular relay post system,available to the general public, served the needs of a networkof professional correspondents from around the world. The timewas right for the first periodical news sheet, which appearedin Strassburg in 1605. The change from hand-copied to printednewspapers was of far-reaching significance, as the mass circulationof news gave regular publicity to the events and personalitiesof political life. By the 1620s a variety of newspapers werecirculating in central Europe, and in the second half of theseventeenth century newspapers were the most widely read secularmaterial. They provided a seedbed for the broadening politicaleducation which fostered the development of the Enlightenment.