Working Group 1.9

Regional Differentiation and the Distribution of Rural Welfare

Convenors:
Tiina Silvasti, University of Helsinki, tiina.silvasti@helsinki.fi (contact person)Sakari Hänninen
Paul Milbourne

 Regional differentiation is, paradoxically, deepening in rural Europe in circumstances of European integration. In fact, differentiation and integration cannot be understood as opposites but rather as two sides of the same process, which includes both centrifugal and centripetal forces working on regions in different ways. At the EU-level, member countries and the Commission are cooperating on a common model for regional development, that takes into account regional structure. The basic idea builds on polycentric urban networks arguing that rural regions are best managed by augmenting the interaction between cities and the countryside. This kind of “locomotive theory” is not easily applicable to the circumstances of remote countryside, where towns and centres are small and far apart. On the other hand, new opportunities and facilities have been recognized in rural areas near cities but they need not be confined to these rural regions alone.

This kind of socio-economic dynamics of regional differentiation has significant consequences for the affordance and distribution of welfare across regions and population segments especially since the restructuring of welfare regimes may promote rather than check this development. In this context, such problematic transformation of economic, demographic, occupation and opportunity structures, and their social, cultural and political consequences in rural regions, is notable. These and similar topics may be approached from different perspectives which can further shed light on more specific issues about housing and living conditions, transport and communication facilities, services, even cultural traditions and modes of living. The making sense of reasons behind and consequences of the distribution and redistribution of welfare in the rural regions may e.g. address questions of equality and justice, generation and gender, rootedness and mobility, globality and locality, participation and policy, indigenous people and immigrants.

This workshop invites papers from different disciplines that address the aforementioned themes of regional differentiation and welfare in rural Europe. We would welcome papers based on empirical or theoretical studies, quantitative or qualitative approaches, and comparative or case-study approaches.