E-Book Overview
Since the early 1980s, the region has been central to thinking about the emerging character of the global economy. In fields as diverse as business management, industrial relations, economic geography, sociology, and planning, the regional scale has emerged as an organizing concept for interpretations of economic change. This book is both a critique of the "new regionalism" and a return to the "regional question," including all of its concerns with equity and uneven development. It will challenge researchers and students to consider the region as a central scale of action in the global economy. At the core of the book are case studies of two industries that rely on skilled, innovative, and flexible workers - the optics and imaging industry and the film and television industry. Combined with this is a discussion of the regions that constitute their production centers. The authors’ intensive research on photonics and entertainment media firms, both large and small, leads them to question some basic assumptions behind the new regionalism and to develop an alternative framework for understanding regional economic development policy. Finally, there is a re-examination of what the regional question means for the concept of the learning region. This book draws on the rich contemporary literature on the region but also addresses theoretical questions that preceded "the new regionalism." It will contribute to teaching and research in a range of social science disciplines.
E-Book Content
Remaking Regional Economies
Since the early 1980s, the region has been central to thinking about the emerging character of the global economy. In fields as diverse as business management, industrial relations, economic geography, sociology, and planning, the regional scale has emerged as an organizing concept for interpretations of economic change. This book is both a critique of the “new regionalism” and a return to the “regional question,” including all of its concerns with equity and uneven development. It will challenge researchers and students to consider the region as a central scale of action in the global economy. At the core of the book are case studies of two industries that rely on skilled, innovative, and flexible workers – the optics and imaging industry and the film and television industry. Combined with this is a discussion of the regions that constitute their production centers. The authors’ intensive research on photonics and entertainment media firms, both large and small, led them to question some basic assumptions behind the new regionalism and to develop an alternative framework for understanding regional economic development policy. Finally, there is a re-examination of what the regional question means for the concept of the learning region. This book draws on the rich contemporary literature on the region but also addresses theoretical questions that preceded “the new regionalism.” It will contribute to teaching and research in a range of social science disciplines. Susan Christopherson is a professor at the Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University. Jennifer Clark is an assistant professor at the School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Routledge Studies in Economic Geography
The Routledge Studies in Economic Geography series provides a broadly based platform for innovative scholarship of the highest quality in economic geography. Rather than emphasizing any particular sub-field of economic geography, we seek to publish work across the breadth of the field and from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. Published: Economic Geography: Past, present and future Edited by Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen and Helen Lawton Smith Remaking Regional Economies: Power, labor, and firm strategies in the knowledge economy Susan Christopherson and Jennifer Clark Forthcoming: