Localism

Localism is a set of ideas that favors decision making, production and consumption at the local level. Localists argue that towns, neighborhoods and regions understand their own needs better than distant national governments or global corporations. They support devolving power to local councils, buying from local businesses, producing food and energy nearby and keeping wealth circulating within communities. Localism is less a complete ideology than a principle that can be combined with others. It attracts support from environmentalists, conservatives, libertarians and socialists, each for different reasons.

Localist ideas draw on a long tradition of thought about small communities. In the nineteenth century, Alexis de Tocqueville admired the township democracy of New England and argued that local institutions taught citizens the habits of liberty. Catholic social teaching developed the principle of subsidiarity, which holds that higher bodies should not take over tasks that smaller ones can perform. In the twentieth century, the economist Leopold Kohr argued that many social problems are caused by excessive size. His student E. F. Schumacher published Small Is Beautiful in 1973, which called for human-scale technology and economics. The urban writer Jane Jacobs defended lively neighborhoods against large planning projects. From the 1990s onward, movements for local food, local currencies and community energy spread in many countries.

Political localism focuses on devolving power to local councils and on direct citizen participation. Economic localism promotes local businesses, community banks and shorter supply chains. Green localism links small-scale production with lower environmental impact and is close to the bioregionalism movement. Conservative localism defends local traditions, institutions and identity. Left localism supports community ownership, cooperatives and participatory budgeting. Subsidiarity is a related principle used in Catholic thought and in European Union law.

Critics from the economic liberal side argue that buying and producing locally can raise costs and reduce the gains that come from specialization and trade. Critics on the progressive left argue that strong local control has sometimes been used to protect local elites or to resist national civil rights laws. Others point out that many problems, such as climate change, pandemics and financial crises, cross borders and require national or global coordination. Some scholars also note that small local governments may lack the money and expertise to provide services fairly. Localists reply that local action can be combined with cooperation between communities.

Localist ideas have influenced devolution of power to regions and cities in several countries, as well as local planning reforms. The European Union treaties include the principle of subsidiarity. Participatory budgeting, first developed in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre in 1989, gives residents direct say over part of the local budget. Farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture, local currencies and community energy cooperatives are practical examples of economic localism.