Economic Geographies of the Global South: Missed Opportunities and Promising Intersections with Development Studies

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines economic geography's bias toward research in advanced industrial and emerging economies (e.g. China, Eastern Europe) and proposes ideas about how scholars in the field might more significantly engage with the Global South (i.e. developing regions). ‘Southern’ research matters for theory development and policy relevance and there are interesting and important opportunities for economic geographers to learn from, and contribute to, ongoing work in development studies and development geography. Three avenues of research are proposed that can improve the links between these academic communities: research on industrial location, infrastructure development, and communication flows; cultural or relational studies of development's meanings, processes, and practices; and network perspectives on South–North and South–South relationships. Given the dramatic and rapid pace of global market integration today, it is crucial for more economic geographers to find new, interesting, and substantive ways to engage with the developing regions in order to more fully understand and conceptualize the complex practices and processes constituting the world economy and its uneven consequences.