Economies, Institutions, and Territories: Dissecting nexuses in a changing world

How do original and innovative economic related processes embed them- selves in societies at the local level? How are the boundaries between the state and the market put under stress by unexpected changes? Are new types of elites and new forms of social inequalities emerging as a result of institu- tional and economic changes? Are some peripheral areas experiencing insid- ious forms of economic and/or institutional lock-in? The present book deals with such intriguing questions by looking at the nexuses between economies, institutions, and territories. To this aim, the book starts with three broad definitional assumptions for the dimensions in question. Economy is conceived as a process of interactions and exchanges between actors to allocate resources. Institutions are conceived in both their formal (i.e., rules, laws, and organizations) and informal or tacit dimensions (i.e., individual habits, group routines, and social norms and values). Lastly, territories are interpreted as arenas that are socially built and constantly negotiated, where context-specific processes unfold.