Scalar postpolitics, inclusive growth and inclusive economies: challenging the Greater Manchester agglomeration model

This article examines the changing scalar political relations underpinning English city-regional governance. Drawing on case study research in Greater Manchester, the article demonstrates how the locally-rooted rise of discourses around inclusive growth and inclusive economies have been deployed to challenge the city-region’s historically dominant agglomeration-based model. Using the analytical lens of scalar postpolitics, the article shows how the earlier technocratic approach adopted by national and city-region leaders attracted criticism in the face of continuing socio-spatial inequalities within Greater Manchester. We highlight the contrasting experiences of Oldham and Trafford, two boroughs of Greater Manchester, to reveal how local geographies were central to challenging the previously dominant model and promoting new thinking around inclusive growth and inclusive economies.