The case for “place-based” political theory.

Over recent years, increased emphasis has been placed on the importance of “place-based” approaches to policymaking in the UK, Europe, and the United States (cf. McCann, 2019; Beer et al., 2020; etc.). This agenda focuses on sub-national policymaking, within specific, identifiable cities, regions, and localities; and argues that, to be effective, various areas of policy (economic development in particular) ought to not only be informed by the particular needs and circumstances of particular places, but should also be designed and delivered by local leaders and communities too (Martin et al., 2021). Despite raising several important normative questions, the place-based policy agenda has, so far, received insufficient attention from political theorists. In this paper I rectify this, codifying a novel methodology within political theoretical research, “place-based political theory”, that directly contributes to the specific politics and policy of certain local places, and critiques the existing approaches and assumptions of place-based policymaking more broadly. I argue that place-based political theory should combine at least two strands of activity. Firstly, place-based political theory should represent a sub-category of “applied political theory” (e.g. McGrane and Hibbert, 2019), through which a political theorist develops and deploys the conceptual resources found within (ideal and non-ideal) political theory in order to better interpret, analyse and resolve normative questions of relevance to sub-national politics, policy, and governance. Obvious and immediate questions pertinent to the “place-based” policy agenda, I argue, include: (i) why and when should policy be made locally rather than nationally; (ii) how should local policymaking processes be organised and governed; and (iii) what particular policy programmes should places pursue? I identify several theoretical and philosophical resources through which such questions could be initially interrogated. Secondly, I argue that political theory can only be truly “place-based” if it is addressed from, as well as to, a particular, identifiable city, region, or locality. Building on the idea of the political theorist as “democratic underlabourer” (Swift and White, 2008) I explain how political theorists can (and do!) directly contribute to democratic processes and debates within the local communities of which they themselves are a part; helping their fellow citizens to make informed political choices by illuminating and critiquing particular problems, situations, or policy proposals of local consequence. This need not be a solely academic pursuit, with a variety of local actors – politicians, local government officers, journalists, activists, and citizens – also urged to engage in “place-based” normative analysis and critique of local policy. I conclude by summarising the key features, and benefits, of “place-based political theory” before outlining a forward-looking research agenda. “Place-based political theory”, I argue, is a mode of political theoretical research and analysis that offers an opportunity to both improve and invigorate local policymaking (by challenging accepted paradigms and agendas) and sharpen theoretical thinking and understanding (by providing a testbed for our conceptual ideas and arguments). It creates the potential for tangible impact within local communities, as well as deeper, critical analysis of the place-based policy agenda as currently conceived within policymaking communities.