When Project-Based Rural Development Undermines Meaningful Activity—A Narrative Interpretation of Project Experiences in Finland

This article addresses projectification as a form of rural development and the criticisms levelled against it at local community level in Finland. It seeks to understand what is behind the negative attitudes of some local actors towards rural development projects and the role played by LEADER LAGs in the projectified rural development scene. The article assesses the opinions expressed by local, governmental and LAG actors about projects as a form of rural development through the Finnish case study. The data came from the open-ended answers provided by local actors who took part in a nationwide survey of village action (2010) and 12 thematic interviews conducted with LAG managers and governmental actors. The analysis draws on narrative organizational analysis as a research method. The criticisms of this project-based form of development relate to frustration with cumbersome rules and excessive bureaucracy, factors that were also highlighted in earlier studies. Our results suggest that there is deep-rooted structural tension between local and governmental actors, which comes to the fore in local development projects. The perceived unity of local experience-based development activity is eroded when it comes up against the normative and regulated project process. This structural tension justifies the function of mediating actors like the LAGs. The mediating work of the LAGs is essential in smoothening the relationship between the two worlds apart: the normative and the lived experience of local actors. The LAG strategies act as competencies that bring these two worlds together.