Local endogenous development in a context of globalization: theoretical approaches and pragmatic challenges

Abstract

This article proposes a reflection on the re-conceptualization of the local in a context of globalization, and analyzes, in theoretical terms, what the effective possibilities of maintaining, reinforcing or triggering dynamics of local endogenous development are. The latter understood, in broad terms as a process with high prominence of local populations and societies and, at the same time, as an alternative approach. The work is based on the review of literature on local development and globalization, and aims to be a contribution to the discussion on these topics. The review confirms the existence of approaches that conceptualize the local, highlighting phenomena such as decentration, supra local networks, the strengthening of the competitive capacities of the territories, the community sense and identities. We suggest that this should be understood as a "complex of premises" that can be interrelated; that a territory is socially produced; and that, in order to acquire some character of alternativeness in a globalized context, endogenous local development processes must have strengthened local agents acting from different scales of reality. At the same time, we emphasize the role of external agents: actions on and from larger scales can be key elements if they are in accordance with orientations coming from the local.