ABSTRACT
The three interrelated themes running though the book are globalization, uneven development and place. Globalization should be viewed as an on-going process, not a final outcome or ‘end state’, which is shaped by the actions of a wide range of individuals, organizations, firms and governments (Dicken et al., 1997). The economy has become more globally integrated in terms of hugely increased flows of goods, services, money, information and people. The process of globalization has been facilitated by the development of a new set of ‘space-shrinking’ transport and communications technologies since the 1960s, resulting in ‘time-space compression’ as the costs of moving materials, capital and information across space have been dramatically reduced (Harvey, 1989a). MNCs, financial markets and international economic organizations such as the World Bank and IMF can
In this book, we have examined the changing geography of the contemporary world economy, focusing particularly on the location of different types of activity, the economic relationships between regions and the economies of particular places. Our approach to these issues is based on a revised political economy approach informed by cultural and institutionalist insights, making it more open to the importance of context, difference and identity. From this perspective, we view the economic geography of the world as the product of a process of interaction between general processes of capitalist development and pre-existing local conditions and practices. In this short concluding chapter, we summarize the key themes of the book, and offer some reflections on globalization and uneven development after the financial and economic crises of 2007-10.
