Julie MacLeavy

Through a concise and accessible overview, Economic Geography: The Basics examines how geographical concepts – place, space, territory, networks, and scale – enable the study of economic phenomena from a spatial perspective. Readers will develop an understanding of the diverse theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches that define Economic Geography. The book highlights how economies constitute and are constituted by their geographical contexts. The five chapters will cover the internal complexities and contradictions of the field, its fluid boundaries, and its diverse contexts. Methodologically, it addresses critical challenges, such as the bias towards national-level analysis that neglects regional and local nuances, and the tendency to oversimplify diverse groups, treating them as uniform entities and ignoring internal complexities. The book also underscores the importance of considering inherent power dynamics between the researcher and their ‘subjects’. These critical reflections collectively underscore the importance of economic-geographical research for explaining how economies function. Designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Geography, Business, Economics, Sociology, and Politics, Economic Geography: The Basics equips students with the spatial analytical tools to explore a wide range of economic activities and their broader societal implications, including but not limited to markets, state interventions, industrialisation processes, the organisation of labour, and the dynamics of social reproduction.

Through a concise and accessible overview, Economic Geography: The Basics examines how geographical concepts – place, space, territory, networks, and scale – enable the study of economic phenomena from a spatial perspective. Readers will develop an understanding of the diverse theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches that define Economic Geography. The book highlights how economies constitute and are constituted by their geographical contexts. The five chapters will cover the internal complexities and contradictions of the field, its fluid boundaries, and its diverse contexts. Methodologically, it addresses critical challenges, such as the bias towards national-level analysis that neglects regional and local nuances, and the tendency to oversimplify diverse groups, treating them as uniform entities and ignoring internal complexities. The book also underscores the importance of considering inherent power dynamics between the researcher and their ‘subjects’. These critical reflections collectively underscore the importance of economic-geographical research for explaining how economies function. Designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Geography, Business, Economics, Sociology, and Politics, Economic Geography: The Basics equips students with the spatial analytical tools to explore a wide range of economic activities and their broader societal implications, including but not limited to markets, state interventions, industrialisation processes, the organisation of labour, and the dynamics of social reproduction.

Looking at how austerity has become embedded in institutional practices, this book offers new critical insights into the uneven geographies created by austerity. Reflecting on the spatially and socially uneven impacts of austerity on individuals and families, Julie MacLeavy shows how the ‘new normal’ of post-welfare state governance will negatively condition life chances, even in better economic times. She considers the political, economic and social developments that have led us to the present moment and shows how the rhetoric of austerity has pushed social inequality and uneven development off the political agenda.

Looking at how austerity has become embedded in institutional practices, this book offers new critical insights into the uneven geographies created by austerity. Reflecting on the spatially and socially uneven impacts of austerity on individuals and families, Julie MacLeavy shows how the ‘new normal’ of post-welfare state governance will negatively condition life chances, even in better economic times. She considers the political, economic and social developments that have led us to the present moment and shows how the rhetoric of austerity has pushed social inequality and uneven development off the political agenda.