Culture Stores

7The power of localism

Localism isn’t small. It’s a power form

Localism is often misunderstood as a preference. A fondness for the small, the familiar, the independent. It gets framed as a lifestyle choice, or worse, a nostalgic one: farmers’ markets, hand-painted signs, places that feel ‘authentic’ in contrast to something bigger, shinier and more efficient elsewhere.

But if you want to understand what localism actually does in modern cities, you don’t start with the picturesque. You start somewhere ordinary.

Take the Idea Stores in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets.¹ They don’t look like monuments. They don’t trade on heritage aesthetics or artisanal cues. They sit between high streets, estates, schools and job centres. People pass ...