Going Local: Understanding and Avoiding the Dangers of Localism

Localism has recently been placed back on the political agenda in many countries. Given this, the case for prioritizing the local should be subject to renewed scrutiny. In this review essay, I do this in two ways while being guided by two new books: Trevor Latimer's Small Isn’t Beautiful: The Case Against Localism and Jennifer Vey and Nate Storring's edited collection, Hyperlocal: Place Governance in a Fragmented World. Firstly, I use Latimer to examine how the localist revolution—much heralded by some—has the potential not only to produce good as well as regrettable outcomes, but increasingly regrettable outcomes in the name of good. Secondly, I use Vey and Storring to examine why localist solutions emerge and sometimes become necessary in the face of state and federal neglect. But even so, this does not necessarily mean that localism alone, without centralized coordination and oversight, is enough.