This thesis takes its inspiration from the recent 'cultural turn' in Social Theory. The 'cultural turn' calls upon researcher to 'de-naturalise' many of the 'taken for granted' assumptions which sustain institutional practices as legitimate. Instead of studying social institutions <i>within</i> particular <i>interpretative communities</i>, the 'cultural turn' encourages researchers to make the <i>deconstruction</i> of <i>interpretative communities</i> itself the raison d'^etre of research. The project focusses upon the role of the Local state in areas undergoing urban regeneration. Urban regeneration has led the Local State into policy areas it previously had no interest in. This has been accompanied by much debate over what the proper <i>role</i> of this institution ought to be. By deconstructing these debates, one can gain insight into the different <i>interpretative communities</i> which support the Local State. The empirical study examines the debates which took place in Glasgow during 1990 over the city's role as European City of Culture. Four areas of conflict are examined; the cultural substance of the event, the emphasis placed upon cultural as opposed to housing policy, the morality of image building projects, and the financial competence of officials. The thesis advanced is that these four areas of conflict represent attempts by Glaswegians to make sense of a transition from <i>a managerialist</i> Local State to an <i>entrepreneurial</i> one. The managerialist interpretative community operates with a reified concept of wealth redistribution and the provision of items of collective consumption. The entrepreneurial interpretive community, in contrast, operates with a reified concept of capitalism. The conflict generated between both communities is tantamount to a <i>new cultural politics</i> within which the 'proper' role of the Local state is being shaped. Given the pervasiveness of conflict in Glasgow during 1990, it is concluded that <i>entrepreneurialism</i> did not necessarily secure hegemonic status in the city.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:641860 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Boyle, Mark |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/20204 |
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