Specifying elsewheres and middles

Abstract

The approaches proffered by Teo et al. in ‘Theorizing with urban China’ are constructive ways forward that also provoke a number of questions about the qualitative distinctions between generalizing and universalizing when it comes to theory. While supportive of the gestures to think with elsewhere, to generate theory for the mid-range and to work with researchers who are embedded in the contexts of study, some specifications are desired: If not everywhere, then which specific elsewheres are relevant? How big is the middle of mid-range theorization? How deeply embedded should collaborators be?