Decentering the Nation: A Radical Approach to Regional Inequality

Doreen Massey; Ash Amin; Nigel Thrift

ISBN 10: 1904508073 ISBN 13: 9781904508076

Publisher: Catalyst Forum, 2003

Synopsis

One of the most persistent characteristics of the geography of Britain is the wide inequality that exists between its constituent regions. It is an inequality which has come to be known as the North-South divide, but this is a gestural term that refers to a geography which has in fact varied in detail and in form over at least the past two centuries. In the present period, in spite of many stated intentions and much government rhetoric to the contrary, it has on many measures grown considerably worse.

This pamphlet argues that it will continue to do so unless there is a more serious engagement with the power dynamics that underlie this fundamentally unequal and undemocratic geography: dynamics that continue to return London and the South East as the centre of the nation. In the absence of both a systematic attack on the spatial concentration of power, and a radical re-imagination of the nature of regions in an age of geographical connectivity and flow, the concessions on offer in the current debate on devolution and region-building will amount to little more than a pin-prick in tackling the alarming regional inequality and political centrism that currently exists in Britain.

About this title

About the Author

Ash Amin is Professor of Geography and Head of Department at the University of Durham.
Doreen Massey is Professor of Geography at the Open University.
Nigel Thrift is Head of Life and Environmental Sciences Division at Oxford University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Catalyst Forum
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1904508073
• ISBN 13: 9781904508076
• Binding: Pamphlet
• Number of pages: 48