Definition of "localism" []

• A local linguistic feature. (noun)
• A local custom or peculiarity. (noun)
• Devotion to local interests and customs. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The government's approach in practice, however, has thus far been marked by inconsistency and incoherence, not helped by a definition of localism that is extremely elastic," the report, from the Commons communities and local government select committee, says.""
• "Peter Hetherington on whether Eric Pickles 'commitment to localism is matched by his cabinet colleagues."
• "Survival-inspired interest in localism has resonated with me especially since reading the fiction piece "Diary of an Interesting Year" by Helen Simpson, in the New Yorker's December 2009 issue, wherein a post-apocalyptic England sees a large number of deaths of -- chaos and anarchy aside -- women who weren't informed enough to carry out a home birth."