The concept of transformation in relation to climate and other global change is increasingly receiving attention. The concept provides important opportunities to help examine how rapid and fundamental change to address contemporary global challenges can be facilitated. This paper contributes to discussions about transformation by providing a social science, arts and humanities perspective to open up discussion and set out a research agenda about what it means to transform and the dimensions, limitations and possibilities for transformation. Key focal areas include: (1) change theories, (2) knowing whether transformation has occurred or is occurring; (3) knowledge production and use; (4), governance; (5) how dimensions of social justice inform transformation; (6) the limits of human nature; (7) the role of the utopian impulse; (8) working with the present to create new futures; and (9) human consciousness. In addition to presenting a set of research questions around these themes the paper highlights that much deeper engagement with complex social processes is required; that there are vast opportunities for social science, humanities and the arts to engage more directly with the climate challenge; that there is a need for a massive upscaling of efforts to understand and shape desired forms of change; and that, in addition to helping answer important questions about how to facilitate change, a key role of the social sciences, humanities and the arts in addressing climate change is to critique current societal patterns and to open up new thinking. Through such critique and by being more explicit about what is meant by transformation, greater opportunities will be provided for opening up a dialogue about change, possible futures and about what it means to reshape the way in which people live.
Recent legislative and other policy-related developments seek to enhance local agenda-setting through empowered communities. However, community development is separated from community empowerment, thus implicitly supporting a more uncritical perspective of empowerment processes. In this article we: (1) focus on communities who do not engage; (2) identify in-community sub-groups and differences as the norm rather than exception; (3) recognise the backwards and forwards motion of community development processes; (4) identify the fluidity of in-community interests and powers; and (5) recognise differences between individual and community-level aspirations. We use evidence from a development project which targets communities that do not engage. Based on interviews with the project manager, project officer, and 155 community members, we conclude that: demoting capacity-building betrays an intrinsic and naïve belief in self-fulfilling processes of community empowerment, rather than acknowledgement of complexities; there is a need, therefore, to remain sceptical in order that analyses are sensitive to complexities of empowerment.
Community-led broadband initiatives represent a relatively recent shift in rural broadband provision. They are locally-led organisations that voluntarily spring up to respond to the lack, or perceived lack, of adequate broadband in their communities. Particularly present in rural spaces, few studies have investigated this mode of broadband delivery, which is gaining attention in the United Kingdom and internationally. This paper seeks to explore the implications of the participatory nature of such broadband initiatives, identifying a) whether pursuing a participatory community-led model for broadband deployment plays a role in enhancing rural social resilience, and b) specifically how leadership and informal digital champions are positioned and perceived throughout this process, and their relationship with rural social resilience. The conceptual framework of 'social resilience' acts as a contemporary analytical tool for understanding the impact of community-led broadband. Using findings from 56 semi-structured interviews across two phases from two community-led broadband organisations, Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) in England and Broadband for Glencaple and Lowther (B4GAL) in Scotland, this paper contributes to both digital scholarship and the theoretical development of 'resilience' as a concept. Community-led broadband is shown to reflect a 'localism' development approach, and this process has strengthened local rural identity for individuals. The role of digital champions, as leaders in the community-led broadband movement, is key to developing the digital resource within rural communities. However, it can also be problematic, entrenching existing inequalities and feelings concerning exclusion, ultimately detracting from individuals' ability to participate. The process and the eventual presence of new technology have contributed to new spatial understandings of community identity, based on regional linkages, and new communities of interest. We conclude that communityled broadband, and in particular the leadership and participation processes, can contribute to social resilience overall, but ultimately is another example of uneven rural development.
This paper examines the relationship between rural dwellers and Internet technology and aims to understand how that relationship is altered with a significant increase in broadband speed. It presents an argument for using 'resilience' as a framework for such technological impact research, positing its potential usefulness for identifying alternative development narratives. Using interview data from 36 individuals in a study conducted with two rural community-based superfast broadband organisations in the UK, it identifies whether superfast broadband plays a role in enhancing rural community resilience. Anticipated outcomes are identified including an increased use of high-capacity services, specifically video services, and also the potential for making new patterns and habits of usage through alternative connection possibilities. Superfast access is equated to increased control over everyday actions, and the need for speed is positioned in relation to the reliability that speed provides for users. Finally, the Internet is perceived broadly as an individualised tool, one that can be accessed for personal skill building, empowerment and ultimately individual scale resilience. These findings highlight the complex, and at times contradictory nature of the relationship between superfast broadband, rural users and potential individual and community resilience. This paper concludes by identifying future research directions.
Abstract:There is widespread acceptance that the absence or presence of infrastructure and services in rural areas can lead to cycles of decline or resilience in these localities. It is also accepted that in remoter areas, population sparsity leads to a higher unit cost for delivery of services and infrastructure, and that private sector providers do not find such areas attractive for investment. At the same time, there is a reduction in spending capability within the public sector due to the significant impact of economic crisis on their resource base, affecting provision of services. How are these seemingly intractable challenges being addressed? Using an interpretive policy analysis approach [1] and narrative tools, the storyline of policy statements, approaches and policies in Scotland is presented and discussed, within a wider European setting. This is complemented by a brief presentation of public-private and third sector initiatives in response to service and infrastructure challenges in rural Scotland. The paper concludes with the argument that we are facing two alternatives-the current -hot spots‖ and -not spots‖ pattern of provision, where the fittest survive, or further shifts towards strategic, cross-sectoral investment which gives scope for more cohesive development for rural communities.
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