This course offers an overview of trends in contemporary economic geography invoking the theoretical lens of political economy.  The course centers around the following principle themes: historical materialist views of economic landscapes; the emergence of post-Fordist production complexes; the structure and geography of the service economy; theoretical critiques of contemporary capitalism; and the space-economy of the world-system.

Aug. 26: Introduction: Modes of Economic Analysis

Sept. 2: Input-Output Analysis

Miernyk, W. 1965. The Elements of Input-Output Analysis. New York: Random House. chap. 1-4.
PAPER 1 DUE Sept. 9

Sept. 9: Product Cycle Approaches

Vernon, R. 1966. "International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle." Quarterly Journal of Economics 80:190-207.

Norton, R. and J. Rees. 1979. "The Product Cycle and the Spatial Decentralization of American Manufacturing." Regional Studies 13:141-151.

Storper, M. 1985. "Oligopoly and the Product Cycle: Essentialism in Economic Geography." Economic Geography 61:260-282.

Taylor, M. 1986. "The Product-Cycle Model: A Critique." Environment and Planning A 18:751-761.
PAPER 2 DUE Sept. 16

Sept. 16: Economic Geography and Political Economy

Harvey, D. 1982. The Limits to Capital. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chaps. 1-2, 5-7.

Harvey, D. 1985. "The Geopolitics of Capitalism." in Social Relations and Spatial Structures. D. Gregory and J. Urry, eds., New York: St. Martin's.

Grannovetter, M. 1985. "Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness." American Journal of Sociology 91:481-510.

Martin, R. and P. Sunley. 1996. "Paul Krugman's Geographical Economics and Its Implications for Regional Development Theory: A Critical Assessment." Economic Geography 72:259-292.
PAPER 3 DUE Sept. 23

Sept. 23: Flexible Production

Amin, A. 1994. "Post-Fordism: Models, Fantasies, and Phantoms of Transition." in Post-Fordism: A Reader. A. Amin, ed. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Linge, G. 1991. "Just-in-Time: More or Less Flexible?" Economic Geography 67:316-332.

Gertler, M. 1992. "Flexibility Revisited: Districts, Nation-States, and the Forces of Production." Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 17:259-278.

Peck, J. 1992. "Labor and Agglomeration: Control and Flexibility in Local Labor Markets." Economic Geography 68:325-347.

McDowell, L. 1991. "Life without Father and Ford: The New Gender Order of Post-Fordism." Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 16:400-419.

Gibb, R. 1994. "Regionalism in the World Economy." in Continental Trading Blocs: The Growth of Regionalism in the World Economy. R. Gibb and W. Michalak. New York: Wiley.
PAPER 4 DUE Sept. 30

Sept. 30, Oct. 7:

Harrison, B. 1994. Lean and Mean. New York: Guilford.
PAPER 5 DUE Oct. 14

Oct. 14: Services I:  Introduction

Walker, R. 1985. "Is There a Service Economy? The Changing Capitalist Division of Labor." Science and Society spring, 42-83.

Goe, W. 1990. "Producer Services, Trade and the Social Division of Labour." Regional Studies 24:327-42.

Bagchi-Sen, S. and J. Sen. 1997. "The Current State of Knowledge in International Business in Producer Services." Environment and Planning A 29:1153-1174.

Oct. 21: Services II

Wood, P. 1991. "Flexible Accumulation and the Rise of Business Services." Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 16:160-172.

Coffey, W. and A. Bailly. 1991. "Producer Services and Flexible Production: An Exploratory Analysis." Growth and Change 22:95-117.

Goe, R. 1991. "The Growth of Producer Services Industries: Sorting through the Externalization Debate." Growth and Change 22:118-141.

Roberts, S. 1994. "Fictitious Capital, Fictitious Spaces: the Geography of Offshore Financial Flows." in Money, Power, and Space.  S. Corbridge, R. Martin, and N. Thrift, eds. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Warf, B. 1995. "Telecommunications and the Changing Geographies of Knowledge Transmission in the Late 20th Century." Urban Studies 32:361-378.
PAPER 6 DUE Oct. 28

Nov. 4, 11 (no class), 18: The Feminist Critique

Gibson-Graham, J.K. 1996. The End of Capitalism (as We Knew It). London: Blackwell.
PAPER 7 DUE Nov. 25

Nov. 25, Dec. 2: The Unstable Landscapes of Capitalism

Storper, M. 1997. The Regional World: Territorial Development in a Global Economy. New York: Guilford.
PAPER 8 DUE Dec. 9

Dec. 9, 16: The Global Economy

Dicken, P. 1998. Global Shift: The Internationalization of Economic Activity. 3rd edition. New York: Guilford Press.
PAPER 9 DUE Dec. 18

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

 -consistent class attendance and participation
   (poor participation is a sign you haven't done the readings)
 -9 short papers (5-8 typed pages each) critically summarizing each group of readings
 

Note: taking notes in class and on the readings is not a bad idea; they may come in handy in the future.