World Economic Geography

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World Economic Geography

• Instructor Dr. Truong Thi Kim Chuyen
• Email worldeconomicgeography_at_gmail.com
• Weblog www.socialscience09.wordpress.com
  

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World Economic Geography

• Paul Knox (2008),The geography of the world
  economy, Routledge 5th edition
• Neil M.Coe, Phillip F Kelly, Henry W.C. Yeung
  (2007), Economic Geography, Blackwell Publishing
• Readings Fellmann Getis - Getis (1998). Human
  Geography Landscapes of Human Activities. Brown
  Benchmark.

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• Course Description
• Course Objectives
• Grades
• Attendance, Assignment, Seminar 30
• Mid-term Exam 30
• Final Exam 40

• You should read the materials assigned before the
  class, as it will facilitate your understanding.
• Additional readings might be assigned throughout
  the quarter on special topics/issues. They will
  be distributed in class and/or via email.

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Course Description

• Course provides various dimensions of the world
  economy geography (WEG) in the age of
  globalization.
• In a world, the trend of global trade is
  increasingly vital, WEG is an imperative for all
  who wish to know what is happening to their
  global economy.
• Course gives the very basic concepts and terms in
  studying world economic geography.
• In economic aspects, it concerns
• the varied ways of people earning,
• the patterns of human activities to produce,
• the distributed and consumed good and services,
  and
• the geographic framework of world trade and
  business.

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Course Description (cont.)

• The lectures will have a emphasis on geographic
  changes in the world economy.
• We will examine the geographic organization of
  economic activity around the world at different
  geographical scales (global, regional and local)
  as well as the relationship between geographic
  conditions and economic development in different
  states
• Course requires critical thinking on current
  economic and social problems from a geographic
  perspective.

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Expected outcome are able to

• By the end of the course, students will be able
  to
• Identify, describe, and explain the roles of
  space,place, scale, and nature in the
  constitution, operation, and outcome of economic
  processes
• Analyze economic events, processes, and
  structures from a geographic point of view
• Broadly define the economy in a way that
  incorporates its social, political (power),
  cultural, and environmental dimensions
• Identify and distinguish between different
  analytical approaches in economic geography
• differentiate relationships of economic
  interdependence of the states,
• Understand of the characteristics of
  transnational corporations (TNCs) and regional
  economic blocs.

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Course Outline
The geography of the world economy Economic Geography
Conceptual foundations 01/ Conceptual foundations Page 1-25
Dynamics of economic space 02/ The changing world economy 04/ Patterns of Development and Change 05/ Services going global 03/ Commodity chains Page 87-115 04/ Technology and agglomeration
Actors in economic space 10/ International and supranational institutionalized integration 06/ The state Page 187-219 07/ The transnational corporation Page 223-251 08/ Labour power Page 254-281 09/ Consumption
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01/ Conceptual foundations

• Aims
• To understand the assumptions used by economists
  in understanding the economy.
• To recognize the limitations of economic
  approaches to the economy
• To appreciate key concepts in economic geography

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03/ Commodity chains where does your breakfast
come from?

• Aims
• To demonstrate how capitalism serves to conceal
  the conditions of commodity production
• To introduce commodity chains and their basic
  components
• To appreciate the differentiation of commodity
  chains in terms of their structure and geography
• To recognize the possibilities for, and
  limitations of, more ethical ways of organizing
  commodity chains

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06/ The state who controls the economy firms
or governments?

• Aims
• To understand how state and supra-national
  institutions shape economic process
• To recognize the different kinds of states within
  the global economy
• To appreciate the changing role of the state in
  an era of globalization
• To demonstrate why geographical scales matter in
  the reconfiguration of the state.

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07/ The transnational corporation - how does the
global firm keep it all together?

• Aims
• To question the claim that transnational
  corporations are really global
• To understand how firms organize complex global
  activities
• To explore the variety of organizational forms
  used by transnational corporations
• To appreciate the inherent limits to the global
  reach of firms

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08/ Labour power can workers shape economic
geographies?

• Aims
• To recognize the ways in which capitals mobility
  gives it bargaining power over labour
• To appreciate the rangr of mechanisms used by
  states and firms to control labour
• To understand the different geographical
  strategies that workers may use to improve their
  position
• To reflect on the possibilities for alternative
  or non-capitalist labour geographies

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09/ Consumption who controls spaces of sales
and consumption?

• Aims
• To recognize the position and importance of the
  consumption process within the capitalist system
• To appreciate the changing geographies of
  consumption and in particular, retailing
• To understand how consumption spaces are actively
  designed and used
• To reflect on the ways in which consumption,
  place and identity are interrelated