Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

'Local economy' concept is often present in the Northern Sweden rural setting as a common
objective that sub-regional actors, especially LEADER (one of the four initiatives financed by EU
structural funds to help local rural actors while providing direct support) programs want to reach.
Same actors in the meantime express a lack of knowledge and interest by local inhabitants. That
reveals the question of how local economy is understood by different actors. Using “perspective”
and “meaning attribution” concepts of symbolic interactionism and local economy debate led by
social movements such as Woods, Transition Towns - TT and New Economics Foundation - NEF,
this paper investigates understandings and practices of local economy in Åres Gröna Dalar
LEADER area, Jämtland, in Sweden. It argues that a) observed actions and experienced happenings
of key actors towards local economy are widely approved by local inhabitants. But the level of
approval decreases when the local economy perspective is tried to be communicated through
rhetorical, verbal and ideological symbols, b) there are four main meanings attributed to local
economy : “buy local” and “support for small-scale entrepreneurs and tourism” compose the narrow
approach while “individual empowerment and community mobilization” and “decentralization and
new way of thinking” are of the wide approach, c) local actors' proposals for actions towards local
economy can be analyzed in four categories: “support for small-scale business”, “raising awareness
and participation”, “networking and collaboration” and “local saving company”