Territorial competitiveness in a systematic perspective. Evidence from Turin's territorial productive systems.

The main focus of the research is on the concept of territorial competitiveness (TC). In TC literature, territory is assumed either as a set of locations that can be sold in a sort of market or as a set of assets that can influence firms' competitiveness. In both case, TC concept cannot be addressed without an explicit theorisation of the economic importance of territory. The aim of this thesis, on a theoretical level, is to use autopoietic system theory as a framework for conceptualising the territory-economy linkage introducing the concept of Territorial Productive Systems (TPS). TPS can be defined as a set of components (mainly firms, but also public administration, research centres, universities, employers' and employees' associations, training centres etc.) systemically linked by relationships founded on territorial proximity, that is both organisational and physical proximity. What makes the TPS different from other geographical and economic objects - like industrial districts, clusters, mere agglomerations - is its explicit systemic construction, focusing on the differentiation between organisation (the basic set of processes that define the distinctiveness of a given TPS) and structure (the set of contingent characters). In the second part of the dissertation, the TPS is applied to analyse Turin's economic and productive transformation. Though traditionally identified as one of the main cases for Fordist organisation in Europe, Turin has always escaped the traditional features of the one-company-town. Grounding on literature review, previous studies, and a survey of about 400 face-to-face interviews we will try to describe how Fiat's supply-chain has been changing over the last decades, setting local sub-systems free to follow new development and learning patterns. In particular, we will be claiming that the existence of continuity over time does not imply the existence of a unique development path and a reification of the territory, but rather the fact that continuity can cope with variety and change in an evolutionary perspective

Eredità cartesiane e immaginari geografici

L’etimologia della parola ‘geografia’ si distingue abbastanza nettamente dalle scienze sociali di origine positivistica come la sociologia, l’antropologia, la politologia, l’ecologia, il cui suffisso ‘logia’ ha un chiaro riferimento al logos. ‘Logos’ è una parola che ha un peso rilevante nello sviluppo della filosofia in Occidente e si riferisce a un concetto di conoscenza affermativa; è la parola che aspettiamo, è la parola definitiva, è la parola sorretta da un’impalcatura di razionalità che, in qualche maniera, la rende un’ortodossia cioè letteralmente: un’opinione corretta. Una regola questa che ammette eccezioni come l’astrologia, non senza sberleffo

Cosa c’è di alternativo negli Alternative Food Networks? Un’agenda di ricerca per un approccio interdisciplinare

The paper outlines a framework of the existing literature upon Alternative Food Networks moving from four different although interrelated standpoints: territorial, environmental, economic, and sociological. The territorial perspective will highlight the modalities through which agri-food networks are organised at different geographical scales and affect the territories they are linked to. The environmental analysis will urge to go beyond a simple, even if very complex to study, “Life Cycle Assessment” to take into account the multi-functionality of farms and the territorial dimensions of the area where the supply chains is placed. The economic standpoint will outline the necessity to examine both the economic determinants of the farmers’ choice to use the AFNs and the mechanisms explaining why consumers are using, from the demand side, the same chains. Finally, the sociological analysis will point to the mechanisms through which quality conventions emerge and diffuse in AFNs.Il contributo presenta un inquadramento della letteratura sugli Alternative Food Network integrando quattro prospettive differenti per quanto interrelate: territoriale, ambientale, economica e sociologica. L’approccio territoriale pone in rilievo le modalità attraverso le quali le reti agro-alimentari si organizzano a diverse scale geografiche ed entrano in relazione con i diversi contesti territoriali. La prospettiva ambientale afferma la necessità di superare un approccio incentrato sul Life Cycle Assessment per l’analisi degli AFN, considerato eccessivamente riduttivo (per quanto complesso da realizzare), per considerare in alternativa la multifunzionalità delle aziende agricole e la dimensione territoriale dell’area in cui il network è sviluppato. L’approccio economico si propone di indagare sia le determinanti economiche della scelta di sviluppare una rete alternativa da parte degli imprenditori agricoli, sia i meccanismi per i quali i consumatori utilizzano le stesse reti. Infine, l’approccio sociologico si concentra sui dispositivi attraverso i quali il concetto di qualità viene definito e diffuso all’interno degli AFN