AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNANCE, POWER, AND T

HE POLITICS OF RESCALING
By Swyndedouw, E. 2000.
Planning Methodologies
11202947 Su, Yin-Yu
2016.09.27

Introduction
Globalization of world economy
- the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world
views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture (Albrow, M. & King, E.,
1990).

The Real Myth of Globalization

An intensifying ideological, political, socioeconomic, and cultural struggle
in a historical-geographical process of deterritorializationreterritorialization
Covered the true sociospatial struggles in the reconfiguration of spatial
scales of governance
Paralleled by/Facilitates the emergence of authoritarian/autocratic forms
of governance

The Spatial Issues of Globalization

Local or regional scale is an integral part of globalization
- ()the local as the locus from where globalisation is experienced and
enacted.
- the old governance form: state, couldnt efficiently adapt the globalization
environment
- to construct competitive spaces through locally or regionally strategies: cultural
rerooting, institutional deregulation, devolution and bioregionalism

Creates new authoritarian/autocratic forms of governance

- the regulation of capital-labour: devolve to the market/local institution and
regulatory forms
- downscaling of national welfare regimes

Some Practical Observations and Analysis

Local, Regional, International, Supernational
- jumping of scales (Smith, 1993)
- the European integration
- glocalization

The rearticulation of political scales (downward, upward and outwards)

leads to political exclusion, a narrowing of democratic control, and a
redefinition of citizenship rights and power.

A politics of scale can reshuffle power relationships and produce a

gestalt of scale that create an empowering process for contemporary
challenges
4

The Fun Part!

Whats happening now?
-

New Organizations
New Rules
New Relationships

Local: community building, cultural industry

Regional: watershed management
International: international law
Supernational: EU, climate change

Technolo
gy
Innovatio
ns

Economic

Political

Environme
ntal

Cultural

Space
5

The world we are in

A Modern world
- with perpetual situations; an opportunity for today could be a risk for tomorrow,
vice versa.

A Urbanized world
- with ever greater interdependences to each other

Every decision is a political decision.

Every decision is going to include some people, and exclude some others.
6

Ref.
1. Brenner, N. (1998). Global cities, glocal states: global city formation and state
territorial restructuring in contemporary Europe. Review of International
Political Economy, 5(1), 1-37.
2. Smith, N. (1987). The Restructuring of Geographical Scale: Coalescence and
Fragmentation of the Northern. Economic Geography, Vol. 63(2), 160-182.
3. Smith, N. (1993). Homeless/global: scaling places. Mapping the FuturesoLocal
Cultures, Global Change. Bird, J., Curtis, B., Putnam, T., Robertson, G., and
Tickner, L. Eds, Routledge, London. pp 87-119.
4. Swyngedouw, E. (2000). Authoritarian governance, power, and the politics of
rescaling. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Vol. 18, 63-76.
5. 1997 40(1):131