1st Edition
European Integration and Rural Development Actors, Institutions and Power
By Michael Kull
Copyright 2014
204 Pages
by
Routledge
202 Pages
by
Routledge
202 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
To understand fully the process of European integration, it is necessary to consider developments at the sub-national and local level. EU integration scholars have been examining the local level using the concept of multi-level governance (MLG) since the 1990s. While MLG was the first concept to scrutinize the position of local levels of public administration and other actors within the EU polity,... Read more
Contents: Introduction; Theories and concepts of European integration; Multi-level governance and structural constructivism - understanding multilevel politics in the European Union; Governing the rural - actors, institutions and power structures; Studying the status of local actors in the community initiative LEADER+ - a methodology for an empirical analysis of Germany and Finland; LEADER+ - actors, Local Action Groups and power relations; LAGs in the administrative structures of LEADER+ - vertical power relations; Local Action Groups and the public; Cooperation beyond Local Action Groups - decision-making and managing authorities; Efficiency and decentralisation; LEADER+ LAGs on the move to the next programmatic period - hopes and expectations for 2007-2013; Empirical findings and discussion; Conclusions; Appendix; References; Index.
Biography
Michael Kull works at MTT Agrifood Research Finland and Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia.
’Michael Kull presents a highly original study of European integration through analysis of the LEADER programme in Finland and Germany, drawing on theories of multi-level governance and structural constructivism. While illuminating rural policy and practice, Kull also reveals the hidden power mechanisms through which the European political order is reproduced and transformed, and the role of different national contexts and traditions.’ Mark Shucksmith, Newcastle University, UK ’Multi-level governance (MLG) has established itself at the leading edge of thinking about the EU and its policies, not least in the field of regional development. In this empirically rich study, Michael Kull develops a critical analysis of MLG through the prism of structural constructivism and shines a light on the rural dimension often overlooked in EU studies. This novel combination of theory and empirics provides valuable insights into the power dynamics of local policy-making within the framework of EU governance.’ Ian Bache, University of Sheffield, UK
