Paper short abstract:

The contribution uses "remoteness" as a theoretical framework to describe the existing relationships between centres and peripheries within the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas, analyzing the set of power relations that influence policy-making strategies and identity-making processes.

Paper long abstract:

Much of the Italian territory is organised around "minor centres", often small hubs that guarantee their residents only limited accessibility to essential services. The specific features of these territories represented in 2012 the starting point for a wider reflection on rural/mountain areas development and the resulting policy making process. As a consequence of that, the Italian Minister for Economic Development has recently launched the "National Strategy for Inner Areas" (SNAI), aimed a finding an integrated approach that could help providing the inhabitants of such territories those basic services perceived to be insufficient. As of today 20 of the 65 selected areas are drawing up their preliminary strategic plan and so far it was possible to observe two sets of processes: a top-down one, that has the objective of preselecting the areas and providing the general guidelines for the strategy, and a bottom-up one that sees those same areas as actively involved in drawing up their future development plans. The paper aims to investigate the relationship between power and knowledge and whether this relationship is reflected in the policy language used in the textual tools SNAI is based on, starting from the assumption that policy language can be both an effect and an instrument of power. Using "remoteness" as a theoretical framework to describe such areas could be a way to analyse the existing relationships between centres and peripheries, implying the existence of a set of power relations that influence policy-making strategies, as well as identity-making processes.