Brian Dill

My current research is concerned with the problem of geographically uneven development. Specifically, I am focused on what have come to be called 'left behind' places; that is, former industrial and rural places that have been negatively impacted by globalization, shifts in market demand, environmental concerns, and government regulations. Although my particular concern is with the consequences of economic restructuring in former timber communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, the economic and social distance that exists between prosperous areas and those 'left behind' can be observed in many locations. Across the US, UK, and EU there are regions, cities, and localities that have failed to experience the growth in incomes, jobs, and productivity that other places have enjoyed. I am guided by two fundamental research questions. First, why have many of these 'left behind' places found it so difficult to reorient their economies and find new roles in the spatial division of labor? Second, which institutions, policies, companies or other actors have actively facilitated the conditions associated with a place being 'left behind'? Third, how are 'left behind' places able to alter their situations - what are the mechanisms through which these places have been able to transform their economies and communities?