This book contributes to emerging debates about Levelling Up the UK Economy, considering these alongside the nature of, and trends in, both the political economy and spatial disparities. Drawing on a complex systems framing, the book pulls together a range of evidence to provide insights about the agenda from macro, meso and micro levels of analyses, including utilising qualitative data from a small scoping study with Directors of Regeneration across several ‘left behind’ places and 25 residents of ‘left behind’ Redcar & Cleveland in Teesside.
The book outlines phases in capitalism’s development, particularly the shift from post-war capitalism to a post-industrial and neoliberal society and the implications for spatial inequalities. The 2022 Levelling Up White Paper is analysed alongside a focus on the role of local government relative to the agenda. The book offers an empirical case study of ‘left behind’ Redcar & Cleveland, exposing deindustrialisation, insecure employment, crime, anti-social behaviour and sentiments on a North South divide and Levelling Up. We suggest that only a transformative change in the political economy, including significant and sustained investment at different spatial levels, is likely to achieve the ambition to Level Up.
Table of Content
1. Introduction.- 2. Capitalism’s Trajectories and Local Spatial Dynamics.- 3. The Levelling Up Agenda.- 4. Local Government, Governance and Levelling Up.- 5. Sentiments from a ‘Left Behind’ Place.- 6. Conclusion: Scanning the Future.
About the author
Luke Telford is a Lecturer in Criminal Justice & Social Policy at the University of York, UK. He is a multidisciplinary academic who has published on political economy, politics, working-class culture, labour markets and the COVID-19 pandemic. Luke is the author/co-author of three other books including English Nationalism and its Ghost Towns, as well as Lockdown: Social harm in the COVID-19 era.
Jonathan Wistow is an Associate Professor at Durham University, UK. Jonathan has a background in local government having previously worked in a local authority. He has published work on local government and governance systems, health inequalities, climate change adaptation, complexity theory, social policy and political economy. He is the author/co-author of two other books including Social Policy, Political Economy and the Social Contract.
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