The Cultural Political Economy of rural governance : Regional development in Hesse (Germany)

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Rural areas are back on the agenda. In official German policy papers, at least, there is the commitment to address existing regional disparities and the specific problems of rural regions. However, how exactly these problems are to be addressed often remains vague and practical political consequences are often not explored. This paper applies the conceptual approach of Cultural Political Economy to analyze different “economic imaginaries” that underline and shape regional policy related to rural areas. Using Critical Discourse Analysis and the case of uneven development in the German state of Hesse, this paper discusses competing economic conceptualizations of regional policy. Through this, we can see that sufficient funding of municipalities and democratization are necessary conditions for realizing progressive alternatives for rural development.