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Abstract
Prevailing theories of local autonomy have largely precluded the possibility for effective local autonomy. Recent alternatives, however, have focused on the law and legal discourse as significant means of sustaining local power. This paper builds on the latter theoretical strain by considering the relation between power and place both within and outside the law. In this paper “autonomy” is reconceptualized with a relational rather than the traditional corporeal theory of power, emphasizing the way in which social objects are reified with power through sets of truth claims. “Local” is reconsidered as one such reification, endowed with a plethora of not merely political, but also cultural and social significations. The result is a more subtle understanding of the way in which power is exercised locally against state domination. This theory is constructed through evidence from a Massachusetts housing policy's drafting and implementation.
