Level with us, regional development is still ‘man shaped’: feminism, futurity and leadership

Abstract

Regional development is ‘man-shaped’. This article calls for more engagement with the feminist concept of futurity by bringing together and troubling masculine-coded understandings of regional development, leadership and power over time and space. It argues that continuing to neglect feminist politics and practices in regional studies stifles conceptual and practical advances in subnational development. Drawing on the example of the UK at a time the government seeks to ‘level-up’ longstanding geographical inequalities, the article highlights and troubles the construction of a masculine gaze of development over time, and how this limits the becoming of ‘otherwise’ regional futures.

Topics & Concepts