http://faculty.washington.edu/mpurcell/jper.pdf

I've got a lot of very liberal friends who are highly supportive of local business. They regard it as the purest, best form of economy, and that widespread localization rather than national or global business is better for everyone. The comment that prompted this:

" "Local" won't save the world until it has a meaningful alternative to the dollar menu and Wal Mart. When you have the choice, choose the just option; where you can't, let's think about how we create more and better options for EVERYONE.
Blessed to be in a position of enough privilege to think about these issues every day."

Here's the abstract of the above link (though I recommend you open it and read at least the first two pages):

A strong current of food-systems research holds that local food systems are preferable to systems at larger scales. Many assume that eating local food is more ecologically sustainable and socially just. We term this the local trap and argue strongly against it. We draw on current scale theory in political and economic geography to argue that local food systems are no more likely to be sustainable or just than systems at other scales. The theory argues that scale is socially produced: scales (and their interrelations) are not independent entities with inherent qualities but strategies pursued by social actors with a particular agenda. It is the content of that agenda, not the scales themselves, that produces outcomes such as sustainability or justice. As planners move increasingly into food-systems research, we argue it is critical to avoid the local trap. The article’s theoretical approach to scale offers one way to do so.

Expounding on the 'local trap' idea:

The local trap refers to the tendency of food activists and researchers to assume something inherent about the local scale. The local is assumed to be desirable; it is preferred a priori to larger scales. What is desired varies and can include ecological sustainability, social justice, democracy, better nutrition, and food security, freshness, and quality. For example, the local trap assumes that a local-scale food system will be inherently more socially just than a national-scale or global-scale food system. This article argues that the local trap is misguided and poses significant intellectual and political dangers to foodsystems research. To be clear, the concept of the local trap is not an argument against the local scale per se. We are not suggesting that the local scale is inherently undesirable. Rather, the local trap is the assumption that local is inherently good. Far from claiming that the local is inherently bad, the article argues that there is nothing inherent about any scale. Local-scale food systems are equally likely to be just or unjust, sustainable or unsustainable, secure or insecure. No matter what its scale, the outcomes produced by a food system are contextual: they depend on the actors and agendas that are empowered by the particular social relations in a given food system.

Also worth noting I know a lot of people who like to sneer at people supportive of local business. Local businesses tend to be more accountable than big corporations.

Not saying the fetishism for localism is justified, but it's not totally irrational either.

Also worth noting I know a lot of people who like to sneer at people supportive of local business. Local businesses tend to be more accountable than big corporations.

Not saying the fetishism for localism is justified, but it's not totally irrational either.

Tbh I've never met anyone who would sneer at supporting local businesses.

Local is ALWAYS better. Period.

Quote from: SecondClass on August 05, 2016, 04:06:33 PM

Local is ALWAYS better. Period.

You might as well just start posting "Assertion".

It would give us all about the same amount of information.

Boo hoo, I have an opinion you don't like.

Believe it or not, I think my own opinions are correct.

Crazy stuff.

So this is only for food? Or is it saying it wants to keep Lego local to Denmark along with other goods?

Quote from: Casper on August 07, 2016, 08:40:30 AM

So this is only for food? Or is it saying it wants to keep Lego local to Denmark along with other goods?

The quote, or the article?

The friend I quoted would prefer local stores selling basically anything over national chain stores, whether it be food, Legos, etc.

Oh I misunderstood, this is more about local stores vs chain stores. Sorry about that.