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This commentary evaluates the concept of financialisation within the context of urban politics and statecraft.

April 21, 2026Open Access

Back to the future? Financialisation, local statecraft, and situational analysis

Key Points

This commentary evaluates the concept of financialisation within the context of urban politics and statecraft.
Assessment of existing literature on financialisation and statecraft in urban studies.
Critical reflection on Pike's contributions to regional studies.
Identifies gaps in understanding the application of financialisation to urban politics.
Highlights the need for a more detailed analysis of the implications of financialisation for local governance.

Abstract

In this short commentary, I assess Pike in relation to those other contributions in urban and regional studies that work with the notion of statecraft. Pike makes an important contribution to ongoing debates on the changing contours of the financialisation of English local government. That said, my argument is that the analysis stops short of revealing the details of the work done by the rather abstract notion of “financialisation” in terms of urban politics, and here I mean with a large and small “P.”

Back to the future? Financialisation, local statecraft, and situational analysis

Key Points

Abstract

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