Exploring the Rural Eco-Economy: Beyond Neoliberalism

Rural areas become central sites for the development of the post-carbon transition, yet this is a highly contested and contingent process whereby neo-liberal models of development and framings compete with the emergence of the alternative circular eco-economy. The article argues for a grounded conceptual and empirical approach in tracing this overall process of sustainable place-making. It explores three key highly contested dimensions: reflexive governance, distributed eco-economies, and refinancialisation, arguing that such explorations are critical in developing more sustainable rural-urban functionalities for the necessary post- carbon and post-neoliberal transition.