Suchergebnisse

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Vol.38 Nr. 5, 1712 - 1731 ; European spatial governance is becoming an intriguing mix of ideas from the economic, political and cultural spheres. This article asserts that, in the EU's spatial planning, the cluster is increasingly part of a hybrid spatial politics, here named the 'cluster gaze', based on the interplay of innovation-oriented political rationality and spatial governance. To study this process, the article provides an empirical investigation into selected EU documentation. The investigation is based on two perspectives. First, the cluster is analysed as a mediating instrument to stimulate and rescale transnational market developments in the EU. Second, the cluster is studied as an instrument of spatial management - one that builds on a business managerial ethos and endorses a specific hierarchical spatial imaginary and a cluster evidence base to assess the productivity and efficiency of European clusters. Both of these perspectives pave the way for a European 'politics of cluster excellence' that is about the constant sharpening of cluster practices, continuous evaluation and ranking, and the enhancement of cluster performance to rise from the 'European league' towards the 'world class'.

AbstractEuropean spatial governance is becoming an intriguing mix of ideas from the economic, political and cultural spheres. This article asserts that, in the EU's spatial planning, the cluster is increasingly part of a hybrid spatial politics, here named the 'cluster gaze', based on the interplay of innovation‐oriented political rationality and spatial governance. To study this process, the article provides an empirical investigation into selected EU documentation. The investigation is based on two perspectives. First, the cluster is analysed as a mediating instrument to stimulate and rescale transnational market developments in the EU. Second, the cluster is studied as an instrument of spatial management — one that builds on a business managerial ethos and endorses a specific hierarchical spatial imaginary and a cluster evidence base to assess the productivity and efficiency of European clusters. Both of these perspectives pave the way for a European 'politics of cluster excellence' that is about the constant sharpening of cluster practices, continuous evaluation and ranking, and the enhancement of cluster performance to rise from the 'European league' towards the 'world class'.

Geopolitics Vol.18 Nr.2, 328 - 342 ; This essay opens a perspective of potential governmentality on state transformation. It is argued that potential governmentality is a process of building a visionary script of an emergent governmental form linked to the creation of a new politico-economic path in a state. The essay discusses the idea of potential governmentality as a heuristic, elaborates the idea of state vigour as a generic form of governmentality and presents a case study in the context of the Finnish state. The essay is an attempt to chart a particular form of state transformation in the context of diffusing geoeconomic calculation.

New Political Economy Vol.19 Nr.1, 21 - 55 ; In this paper, we present an outline of state transformation in the context of a Nordic welfare state. We use Finland as an example of the transformation process in which a welfare state form we call a cartel polity is shifting towards a corporate polity, a particular adjustment of the competition state. We conceptualise the corporate polity as a spatio-temporal fix under construction. The corporate polity is both an on-going process to build a corporation-inspired management model for the Finnish state and a novel state ethos that is underpinned by constant concern about the state's international competitiveness in front of 'nature-like' market forces, transnational investors and highly skilled labour. We propose that the imaginary of a corporate polity is endorsed by a discursive practice that constructs a ceaseless crisis condition in the Finnish state, through repetitive and mundane activities related to state governance. Through the empirical analysis, we single out four dimensions of the corporate polity: fiscal-managerial, digital, capacity-oriented and territorial. Finally, we provide brief reflections on the potential state transformations in the future.

In this paper, we present an outline of state transformation in the context of a Nordic welfare state. We use Finland as an example of the transformation process in which a welfare state form we call a cartel polity is shifting towards a corporate polity, a particular adjustment of the competition state. We conceptualise the corporate polity as a spatio-temporal fix under construction. The corporate polity is both an on-going process to build a corporation-inspired management model for the Finnish state and a novel state ethos that is underpinned by constant concern about the state's international competitiveness in front of 'nature-like' market forces, transnational investors and highly skilled labour. We propose that the imaginary of a corporate polity is endorsed by a discursive practice that constructs a ceaseless crisis condition in the Finnish state, through repetitive and mundane activities related to state governance. Through the empirical analysis, we single out four dimensions of the corporate polity: fiscal-managerial, digital, capacity-oriented and territorial. Finally, we provide brief reflections on the potential state transformations in the future. Adapted from the source document.