Contemporary strategies for rural community development in Australia: a governmentality perspective |
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| Institution: | 1. Center for Farmers'' Development Studies, School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang A& F University, China;2. College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University, China;3. CSIRO Agriculture, Australia;4. CSIRO Land and Water, Australia;5. Cropfacts Pty Ltd., Australia;6. Birchip Cropping Group, Australia;7. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, India;1. The Institute for Global Innovation and Development, The Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University, China;2. The Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University, Canada;3. Department of Geography and Spatial Information Technology, Ningbo University, China;4. Department of International Trade and Economics, School of Economics, Xiamen University, China;5. Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China;6. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China;1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China;2. Department of Urban Planning and Environment, School of Architecture and Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Contemporary strategies for rural development in Australia are based upon notions of self-help and bottom-up, community-based initiatives which are said to `empower’ the individual from the imposing structures of government intervention. While such strategies are not entirely new to Australia, they have, it seems, been inadequately theorised to date and are generally regarded, in rather functionalist terms, as indicative of attempts to cut back on public expenditure. Harnessing itself to the `governmentality’ perspective, this paper explores government and `expert’ discourses of rural community development in Queensland and suggests, instead, that these strategies are indicative of an advanced liberal form of rule which seeks to `govern through community'. With this in mind, three basic research questions are identified as worthy of further exploration; how are the notions of self-governing individuals and communities constructed in political discourse; what political rationalities are used to justify current levels of (non) intervention and finally; what are the discourses, forms and outcomes of empowerment at the local level? The paper concludes by arguing that while the empowering effects of self-help are frequently cited as its greatest virtue, it is not so much control as the added burden of responsibility that is being devolved to local people. Given the emphasis of the governmentality perspective on strategies for `governing at a distance', however, these conclusions can hardly be unexpected. |
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