Keynote Paper II - Prof. Roger Bromley (Cultural Studies, Nottingham Trent University)

From the Hyperlocal to the Transnational Villager

This contribution is designed to stimulate discussion around a number of related topics which have shaped the colloquium. Sceptical that governments, regional or otherwise, are capable of producing regional identities in any other but rhetorical or formulaic terms, attention will be paid to the ways in which, in the past decade or so, a number of , potentially, popular and democratising tendencies have developed in the wake of new media technologies.

The first of these to be explored will be digital storytelling which, at local, regional, national and international levels, has recognised the power of the complex and multiple narratives which shape people's lives and harnessed these in ways which bring together narrative, technology and community- building as part of a development strategy, particularly for those alienated, or otherwise excluded, from access to media.

It will be argued that much of the vocabulary of governmental discourse - ownership, choice, agency, voice, enabling, partnership, responsibility, empowerment, interactivity - is the product of a contentless, and often contextless, managerialism in actual practice - a set of categories for containing and managing people - whereas some of the concepts themselves could be 'rescued' and more properly applied to new social media.

Linked to the focus on digital storytelling will be some consideration of hyperlocal journalism and citizen media sites and initiatives as means of possibly helping to open up, legitimate and construct regional identity in a multi-layered fashion. In this way, long-term, but marginalized, residents, immigrants and minority groups might all be enabled to contribute to the politics of a new regional belonging, at once local but simultaneously transnational.

Contact Details

School of Arts and Humanities
Nottingham Trent University
Clifton Campus
Nottingham
NG11 8NS

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 6343
E-mail: r.bromley "AT" ntu.ac.uk

Biography

Full Paper

Response to East Midlands Cultural Strategy Document: 'The Place of Choice'