ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the various concepts discussed in preceding chapters of this book. The book explores the ambiguous character of the local and localism largely through the framework of political and ecological controversies. The ideas and practices of localism, understood as favouring the local, can lead to both progressive and regressive paths. Advocating re-localisation as a path to sustainability is an early and important line of argument in environmental debates. Equating localism with environmental sustainability risks a localist trap similar to equating localism with democracy. An inherent assumption about localism is the positive values that are associated with the local. Under the conditions of intensified global interconnections, the local can never be confined to any particular spatial limits. However, while the local can be simultaneously part of a series of processes stretching far beyond the local, individuals in everyday life continue to have a sense of what the local means to them.
