Regions Engaging Globalization: A Typology of Regional Responses in Rural Europe

Abstract

impact of globalization processes on regional economies, societies and environments. Accordingly, globalization is producing not a homogenized global rural space, but rather a reconfigured but spatially differentiated 'global countryside' in which rural regions as still distinct from each other, but they are also different to how they were before. Reporting on the EU-funded project 'Developing Europe's Rural Regions in the Era of Globalization', this paper will draw together findings from empirical research across ten case study regions in rural Europe to develop a comparative conceptual understanding of the factors shaping the differential engagement of regions with globalization, both in terms of the impact of globalization processes and the response of regions to the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization. From this analysis a typology of regional responses to globalization is presented which aims to inform understanding of how models of regional development may operate differently in different regions. Keywords: globalization, regional development, Europe, local agency, typology