Lost in translation? Local interests, global actors and inward investment regimes

Global economic integration is often viewed as a process orchestrated from 'above' by constituents of an emergent transnational class. Yet such perspectives neglect the autonomous contributions made from 'below' by subnational political coalitions that mediate between global and local interests. In this article we consider the issue of political mobilization at the subnational scale around the material and discursive interests of mobile capital. We highlight the mechanisms that mediate the tension between global and local interests and examine how this tension is articulated at multiple scales. We draw on empirical work in the United States and United Kingdom to illustrate the complex translation between 'global' capital and 'local' political coalitions. We conclude by sketching out the implications of our discussion for research on the role of political coalitions in fostering modernization through inward investment and upon some of the attendant policy implications. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.