<scp>leader</scp> and partnerships: the case of Italy

Abstract

This paper focuses on the Local Action Group as a partnership and considers how such entities fit within the Polanyian triadic model of social order. The rhetoric of leader and endogenous development would suggest that lags are a manifestation of the principle of reciprocal relationships. Osti concludes, however, that although there is a shift away from the hierarchical principle, the direction of change is, in fact, towards quasi‐markets. In these markets, territories are provided with an enhanced capacity as strategic agents but are also susceptible to control by local/regional economic and political interests. His theoretical ideas are grounded in a study of leader in Italy.