Divergence and Convergence of National and Local Regulation

Abstract

From a regulationist perspective, this article analyses the conditions under which local and national modes of development can diverge. Taking the modern history of Vienna and Austria as an example, the article considers the dialectics of accumulation strategies and national and local state projects. Four relevant historical periods can be distinguished. The more general conclusion is that heterogeneous regional development is only a necessary (but not a sufficient) condition for a local state project to diverge from the national one. It seems that popular forces can only establish a counter-project at the local level if the national dominant bloc fails to gain mass acceptance for its ideological dispensation and an emerging counter-bloc is able to capitalize on this weakness by formulating its own social project.