ABSTRACT
Uncertainties, risks, and crises have become important terms in the 21st century’s economic geography, linking diverse thematic issues such as globalization processes, environmental changes, socio-political shifts, and technological advances. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the conceptualization and appearance of these terms in the economic geography literature. By drawing on interdisciplinary insights from economics, sociology, organizational studies, and political science, the conceptual nuances and the theoretical foundations of uncertainties, risks, and crises in economic geography are outlined. It is shown that there are clear differences in the scope of the literature between risks, crises, and uncertainties. While there is an intensive theoretical and empirical debate on the concepts of risks and crises in economic geography, we see a need for economic geographers to become more involved in conceptual debates about uncertainty. We also aim to encourage scholars to conduct more empirical studies that deal directly with uncertainties from a spatial perspective.
