Coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. Editorial note.

Abstract

The aim of this Special Issue is to present examples of how territories and regions cope with peripherality, in both a top-down and a bottom-up perspective, particularly relying on case studies that highlight the role of local agency in the development strategies of peripheral areas. In doing so, it will consider the opportunities and the constraints of peripherality and peripheralization, and the ways in which they can possibly increase or hinder the ability of peripheral areas to be resilient to structural change. Following a theoretical overview on the current debate on the policy implications of focusing the attention on local agency in relation to local development, this special issue will present some cases where efforts in dealing with peripherality and/or process of peripheralization are at stake. It will be evidenced that analyzing the spontaneous or induced (by a supra-local policy) local responsse is proving to be particularly challenging, as well as interesting, as it implies the application of the notion of resilience and all its theoretical (explanatory) and practical (policy) potential. The Editorial will conclude by providing suggestions for future directions in research and in policy making strategies aimed at overcoming the issues brought by processes of marginalization.