Local politics in an international context: a linguistic analysis of community resiliency in Memphis, TN

Abstract

This paper utilises the framework of state capacity from international relations, including the quality of institutions, bureaucracy, and enforcement mechanisms, to evaluate community resiliency. We take a global perspective on the problems of disorder, crime, and social capital, contextualising these issues with a broader global literature of how communities respond to systemic stressors driven by both endogenous and exogenous factors, including social problems and corresponding policy prescriptions are defined in terms of poverty, inequality, and civic participation. Locally, these issues are framed as individual-level problems, such as crime and blight. Our work provides a bridge between the international relations perspective and the local governance perspective. Using macro-level global political research drawing on international relations scholarship on quality of governance, we examine micro-level processes with Memphis, Tennessee, USA as a case study. Our data include reports from the Memphis 3–1-1 system alongside crime, weather, social capital and governance indicators.

Publication Title

Local Government Studies

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