Social Inclusion or Market Competitiveness?
A Comparison of Rural Development Policies in the
European Union and the United States
Sally Shortall and Mildred E. Warner
Abstract
The language of EU rural development policy appears more interested in social inclusion and that
of US policy more interested in market competitiveness. We seek to determine why policies directed
at rural development in the EU and the USA differ. In both contexts new rural development policies
emphasize partnership and participation but we find local participation is used to promote social
inclusion in the EU and market competitiveness in the USA. An examination of these dimensions
illustrates important transcontinental differences and similarities in rural development policies. We
explore the socio-historical reasons for differences in the commitment to social inclusion, while also
noting similarities in the priority of market competitiveness.
Keywords
European Union; United States; Market competitiveness; Social inclusion; Rural develop-
ment policy; Partnerships; Participation; LEADER; New Markets Tax Credit; Empower-
ment Zone Enterprise Community; Rural Development Councils
Introduction
A recent special issue of Social Policy & Administration (vol. , no. , )
focused on ‘the rural question’ (Giarchi ). While Woods () explores
commonalities between an emerging politics of the rural in North America,
Australia, Britain and New Zealand, the other articles show differences in
language and priorities for rural policy in Europe and North America. While
the European papers discuss social inclusion and rural social mobilization
(Shucksmith et al. ; Halhead ; Anderson ), the only US paper
focuses on market-based approaches to government (Warner ). Other US
literature on rural development has emphasized governance and social issues,
Address for correspondence: Mildred E. Warner, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY , USA. Email: mew@cornell.edu
S P &A 0144–5596
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9515.2010.00730.x
V. 44, N. 5, O 2010, . 575–597
© The Author(s)
Social Policy & Administration © Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Garsington Road, Oxford OXDQ , UK and
Main Street, Malden, MA , USA