ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 examines how rural regeneration policy and governance have evolved in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales; the ‘objects of governance’ privileged; and the role of the EU, which has arguably led to opportunities for the self-determination of rural regeneration policy remaining fairly limited. Through use of a number of different theoretical frameworks, the chapter highlights how actors in different parts of the UK have differential abilities to act in and through the devolved institutions of the state to pursue their interests in relation to rural regeneration activity. Evidence presented from all four areas of the UK also reveals how organisational structures for delivering rural regeneration have both emerged and disappeared at a range of scales – from the national to the local, which in turn has had implications for the nature of rural regeneration policy in different devolved contexts.
