Shifts in Local Statehood: Between Progressive Transformation and Authoritarian Takeover in Contemporary Europe

Call for Papers

Shifts in Local Statehood: Between Progressive Transformation and Authoritarian Takeover in Contemporary Europe

Journal: Territory, Politics, Governance
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Group
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 01 September 2026

Territory, Politics, Governance invites submissions for its Special Issue titled "Shifts in Local Statehood: Between Progressive Transformation and Authoritarian Takeover in Contemporary Europe."

About the Special Issue

This Special Issue explores the evolving nature of local statehood in Europe amid the contemporary era of polycrisis. Against the backdrop of climate change, geopolitical conflicts, austerity, democratic challenges, and the rise of authoritarian politics, local governments are experiencing significant institutional and political transformations.

The issue seeks theoretical and empirical contributions that examine how local state institutions navigate tensions between progressive transformation and authoritarian takeover. It encourages research that moves beyond binary understandings of state change by investigating the contradictions, frictions, and power relations shaping contemporary local governance across Europe.

Scope and Topics of Interest

Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Progressive and authoritarian transformations of local state institutions

• Local governance under conditions of polycrisis

• New municipalism and progressive state projects

• Democratic legitimacy and authoritarian local governance

• Public administration, bureaucracy, and institutional change

• Social movements and institutions beyond the state

• Co-production of public services and state–society relations

• Political potential of local governments

• Sustainability transitions and local state transformation

• Digital state spaces and changing territorial governance

• Ethnographic, emotional, and counter-cartographic approaches to studying the state

• Comparative perspectives on local statehood across Europe, particularly Eastern and Southern Europe

Submission Guidelines

• Abstract Submission Deadline: 27 May 2026

• Manuscript Submission Deadline: 01 September 2026

• Abstracts should be no more than 250 words and include the title, author details, and abstract text.

• Abstracts should be submitted to all Guest Editors via email.

• Empirical, theoretical, and comparative contributions are welcome, with particular encouragement for studies focusing on Eastern and Southern European contexts.

• Authors selected following the abstract stage will be invited to submit full manuscripts for the Special Issue.

Special Issue Editors

• Gala Nettelbladt — Institute for European Urban Studies, Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany

• Matthias Naumann — Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany

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