Definition of Local
“A geographical area composed of a group of local government authorities that generally share a common economic base and are close enough together to allow residents to commute between them for employment, recreation, or shopping.”(Hess 2009)
Localism as a Conundrum
Localism has been a word used in recent times to describe the social movement that promotes goods, services and ideas produced and consumed locally. Local is a vague descriptive word and can mean anything from within your town to "made in the USA." The concept of localism is championed by supporters who argue that it promotes heterogeneous culture, stability due to the lack of global supply chains, and decreased stochasticity of global markets. The opposite philosophy of localism is globalism, and globalization of markets, products, trade and ideas. Proponents of globalization argue globalized capitalism will produce more efficient products, goods and services. Below is a short video explaining globalization in contrast with localism.
*This website is a class assignment for Nature and American Values at Virginia Tech. The purpose of the assignment is to help inform us on key issues facing America. The positions being advocated were assigned and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the students.*