ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, THE GREAT HALF CENTURY

The title of the seminar is taken from Allen Scott’s (2000) paper in which he reviews the paradigmatic changes in economic geography since WWII. Scott is an economic geographer and his upbeat assessment of the intellectual contribution of economic geography to the social sciences is not, probably, too surprising. What is certainly clear is a strong spatial turn in many social science discipline including, to some extent, economics.

The seminar will introduce the main paradigms in economic geography over the last half century to offer on overview of the diversity of theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches of economic geographic research. At the end of the semester, students will have a good idea how the economic geography evolved from a monolithic discipline focused on commerce to a plural one sustaining a wide variety of theoretical frameworks from neoclassical economic geography to political economy and the cultural turn, from one based on description of empirical phenomena to one based on  positivist, critical realist and hermeneutic theoretical approaches using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to explain the uneven and inconstant evolution of the capitalist space economy. Most importantly we will find out where economic geography diverges from economics and where there are theoretical, methodological and empirical overlaps with it, what a spatial perspective of the economy adds to our understanding of socio-economic processes and what kinds of questions economic geographers address.

Topics:

1.    Economic Geography, the Great Half Century
2.    From Quantitative Revolution and Regional Science to NEG
3.    The resurgence of regional economies
4.    The cultural turn in economic geography
5.    Evolutionary economic geographies
6.    Relational economic geographies and economic sociology
7.    Political economic approaches to Economic Geography

Each week is based on a set of key readings (see attached syllabus in Dateiablage)  that form the basis for the weekly discussions. The readings were chosen to highlight specific aspects of debates and discussions within economic geography that may be relevant to economists. They are not and cannot be representative of all the opinions of EG practitioners but the hope is that after engaging with them, we learn something about the differences and intersections between economic geography and economics. We will also see that some paradigms align themselves more or less closely with different theoretical approaches within economics while others may appear entirely alien to economists.

Thinking geographically about the economy highlights the asymmetric connectivities between places that coupled with uneven geographical development coproduce the conditions of unequal possibilities of people living in different parts of the world. The readings will also highlight that there is such a thing as ´the´ economy, but that economic processes are always embedded in actually existing geographic and historically specific social conditions and shaped by existing power relations and where individual preferences are not exogenously given but co-evolve with social interaction and institutional context.

Students will understand how a spatial approach to the economy alters fundamentally our understanding of unequal power relations in a global economy and demonstrates that "economy" cannot be separated from the "spatial", "social", "political", "cultural".

Students will become familar with with literature on some key paradigms in economic geography.

Students will be able to critically engage with the literature, lead and participate in discussions on the readings of the theme they choose for presentation.

Skills: Critical analysis/thinking, Presentation; Discussion and leading of discussion;

The material will be taught in form of bi-weekly seminars structured around key themes and a set of 4-5 key readings each week. Each week discussions will be structured and led by a different student.

 Willingness to read and participate constructively in discussions