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Reconsidering the English Question as a Matter of Democratic Politics and Spatial Justice

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  • Krisztina Varró

    (Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9108, NL-6500 HK Nijmegen, The Netherlands)

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the implications of state territorial decentralization for the management of uneven regional development and spatial justice. It is argued that accounts of post-1997 UK devolution and the treatment of ‘the English question’ with a similar concern have tended to dismiss government policies against the backdrop of an uncritical view of spatial Keynesianism. Furthermore, these accounts have not succeeded in capturing the interconnectedness of the issues of democracy, solidarity, and spatial justice. In order to address these shortcomings I elaborate on a perspective that draws on insights of postfoundational political thought and interprets justice as democratic practice. This perspective reminds us that any notion of solidarity between people sharing a ‘national space’ and, consequently, any understanding of spatial justice is always politically constructed. Accordingly, the main task becomes to ‘unimagine’ the nation as a community of pregiven interests and to examine the obstacles to a meaningful debate on the institutional supports of solidarity.

Suggested Citation

  • Krisztina Varró, 2012. "Reconsidering the English Question as a Matter of Democratic Politics and Spatial Justice," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(1), pages 29-45, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:30:y:2012:i:1:p:29-45
    DOI: 10.1068/c10215r
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    References listed on IDEAS

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