98846 - Economic Geography (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course provides the main theoretical references for the analysis of the economic processes occurring in the contemporary world, with particular reference to the geoeconomic space created by globalization. At the end of the course the student knows and knows how to analyze, at differentterritorial management.

Course contents

The course addresses the main models and concepts of contemporary economic geography, as well as its application in various specific sectors of research and territorial development.

Readings/Bibliography

PART A. CONCEPTS AND THEORIES
SESSIONS 1-4: INTRODUCTION

MAIN TEXTS:
Celata, F. (209) Spazi di produzione: una prospettiva relazionale, Torino: Giappichelli: capitolo 1
Conti, S. (1989) Geografia economica: teorie e logica della rappresentazione spaziale dell’economia, Torini: UTET

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Barnes, T.J. et al. (2012) The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Economic geography, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell: introduction
Coe, N.M. (2020) Economic Geography: a contemporary introduction, Wiley Blackwell:
Clark, G. et al. (2018) The New Oxford handbook of economic geography, Oxford, Oxford University Press: introduction
Yeung , H.W. (2005) «Rethinking relational economic geography,» Transactions of the Insititute of British Geographers, 30,/1: 37–51.

SESSIONS 5-6: UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT

MAIN TEXTS:
Vanolo, A. (2010) Geografia economica del sistema-mondo: Territori e reti nello scenario globale, UTET: capitolo 2, 3, 5
Corrado, A. et al. (2018) Introduzione. Per un’analisi critica delle filiere e dei sistemi agroalimentari in Italia, in: Meridiana. 93: 9-26

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Celata, F. (209) Spazi di produzione: una prospettiva relazionale, Torino: Giappichelli: capitolo 2
Harvey, D. (2007) Breve storia del neoliberismo, Milano: Il saggiatore.
Harvey, D. (2018) Geografie del dominio: capitalismo e produzione dello spazio, Verona: Ombre Corte.
Harvey, D. (1985) The urbanization of capital, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Perrotta, D. (2016) Ghetti, broker e imperi del cibo. La filiera agro-industriale del pomodoro nel Sud Italia, Cartografie Sociali, 1/1: 261-288
Mezzadra, S. (2020) S/confinamenti globali. Spazi politici e spazi del capitale, in: Figure del potere. Saggi in onore di Carlo Galli, Bologna: il Mulino: 119 - 132

SESSIONS 7-8: COMMODIFICATION

MAIN TEXTS
Celata, F. (209) Spazi di produzione: una prospettiva relazionale, Torino: Giappichelli: capitolo 6
http://www.followthethings.com [http://www.followthethings.com/]

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Appadurai, A. (2011) La vita sociale delle cose: una prospettiva culturale sulle merci di scambio, Milano: Melthemi: capitolo 1-2
Tsing, A.L. (2009) (2009) Supply Chains and the Human Condition, in: Rethinking Marxism, 21/2, pp. 148-176.

SESSIONS 9-10: GLOBAL PRODUCTION NETWORKS

MAIN TEXTS
Vanolo, A. (2010) Geografia economica del sistema-mondo: Territori e reti nello scenario globale, UTET: CAPITOLO 4
Celata, F. (209) Spazi di produzione: una prospettiva relazionale, Torino: Giappichelli: capitolo 2-4

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Allen, J. (2009) Three spaces of power: territory, networks, plus a topological twist in the tale of domination and authority, Journal of Power, 2:2, 197-212
Cainelli, G. E Iacobucci, D. (2005) I gruppi d'impresa e le nuove forme organizzative del capitalismo locale italiano, L'Iindustria 2/2005, aprile-giugno: 237-256
Coe, N. And Hess, M. (2012) The Geographies of Production, in: Barnes et al., ed. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Economic Geography, Malden: Wily-Blackwell.
Cox, K.R (1998) Spaces of dependence, spaces of engagement and the politics of scale, or: looking for local politics, in: Political Geography, 17/1, pp. 1-23.
De Marchi, V. et al., eds. (2018) Local Clusters in Global Value Chains: Linking Actors and Territories Through Manufacturing and Innovation, London: Routledge
Gereffi, Gary, John Humphrey & Timothy Sturgeon (2005) The governance of global value chains, Review of International Political Economy, 12:1, 78-104
Swyngedouw , E. ( 1997) Neither global nor local: ‘Glocalization’ and the politics of scale . In K. Cox (ed), Spaces of Globalization: Reasserting the Power of the Local. Guilford Press , New York , pp. 137–166.

SESSIONS 11-12: GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS

MAIN TEXTS
Vanolo, A. (2010) Geografia economica del sistema-mondo: Territori e reti nello scenario globale, UTET: CAPITOLO 5-6
Celata, F. (209) Spazi di produzione: una prospettiva relazionale, Torino: Giappichelli: capitoli 2

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Bair J., Werner M, (2011) Commodity chains and the uneven geographies of global capitalism: a disarticulations perspective, in: Environment and Planning A 43: 988–997
De Marchi, V. et al., eds. (2018) Local Clusters in Global Value Chains: Linking Actors and Territories Through Manufacturing and Innovation, London: Routledge
Castells, M. (1996) The rise of the network society, Malden, M.A.: Blackwell: chapter 3.

SESSIONE 13-14: TOWARDS A COMPROMISE

MAIN TEXTS
De Marchi, V. et al., eds. (2018) Local Clusters in Global Value Chains: Linking Actors and Territories Through Manufacturing and Innovation, London: Routledge
Jessop, Bob, Brenner, Neil, and Martin Jones. 2008. ‘Theorizing sociospatial relations’. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 26/3: 389-401.

SESSIONE 15: WRITING WORKSHOP

MAIN TEXT
Bruce Berg, Qualitative research methods for the social sciences, Boston (Mass.): Pearson education, 2004: chapters 2 (pagine 24-25) e 12

PART B: TOPICS

SESSIONE 16-17: ‘SOCIAL NETWORKS’

MAIN TEXTS
Granovetter, M. (1998) La forza dei legami deboli, a cura di M. Follis, Milano: Liguori, pp. 115-147.
Zuboff, S. (2019) Il capitalismo della sorveglianza. Il futuro dell'umanità nell'era dei nuovi poteri, Roma: Luiss University Press: capitolo 3.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Barber, B. (1995) All economies are “embedded”: the career of a concept, and beyond. Social Research, Vol. 62, n° 2 (Summer), pp. 387-413.
Granovetter, M. (1985) Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness, in: American Journal of Sociology, 91/3, pp. 481-510.
Portes, A. and Sensenbrenner, J. (1993) Embeddedness and immigration: notes on the social determinants of economic action, in: American Journal of Sociology, 98/6, pp. 1320-1350.
Somers, M. (2005) Beware trojan horses bearing social capital: How privatization turned solidarity into a bowling team, in: Steinmetz, G. ed., The politics of method in the human sciences: Positivism and its epistemological others, Durham NC and London, Duke University Press.
Woolcock, M. (1998) Social capital and economic development: toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework. Theory and Society, Vol. 27, n° 2 (April), pp. 151-208.

SESSIONS 18-19: LABOUR GEOGRAPHIES

MAIN TEXTS

Taylor, M. and Rioux, S. (2018) Global Labour Studies, Cambridge: Polity Press: chapter 3
Perrotta, D. (2014) Vecchi e nuovi mediatori. Storia, geografia ed etnografia del caporalato in agricoltura, Meridiana, 79: 193-220.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Baglioni, E., et al. ed. (2022) Labour Regimes and Global Production, New York: Columbia University Press.
Celata, F. (209) Spazi di produzione: una prospettiva relazionale, Torino: Giappichelli: capitolo 7.6
Mezzadra, S. (2021) Oltre il riconoscimento. Piattaforme digitali e metamorfosi del lavoro, Filosofia Politica, 3 (dicembre): 487-502
Strauss, K. (2012) Coerced, Forced and Unfree Labour: Geographies of Exploitation in Contemporary Labour Markets, Geography Compass 6/3 (2012): 137–148
Weeks, Kathi. 2016. “The problem with work.” In Global Histories of Work, edited by Eckert, Andreas. Berlin: de Gruyter.

SESSIONS 20-21: INFORMAL DEVELOPMENT

MAIN TEXTS
De Soto, H. (2001) Il mistero del capitale. Perché il capitalismo ha trionfato in Occidente e ha fallito nel resto del mondo, Milano, Garzanti (introduzione).
McFarlane, Colin. 2012. “Rethinking Informality: Politics, Crisis, and the City.” Planning Theory & Practice 13, no. 1 (March): 89-108

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Mitchell, Timothy. 2004. “The properties of Markets: Informal Housing and Capitalism's Mystery.” Cultural Political Economy Working Paper 2, University of Lancaster: Institute for Advanced Studies in Social and Management Sciences.
Roy, Anyanya and Nezar AlSayyad. 2004. Urban Informality: Transnational Perspectives from the Middle East, Latin America, and South Asia. New York: Lexington Books.

SESSIONS 22-23: PRODUCTION-REPRODUCTION

MAIN TEXTS
Mezzadri, Alessandra. 2019. “On the value of social reproduction: Informal labour, the majority world and the need for inclusive theories and politics.” Radical Philosophy, 2 no. 4 (Spring): 33-41.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Barca, Stefania. 2020. Forces of Reproduction: Notes for a Counter-Hegemonic Anthropocene. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press
Davis, Angela. 1983. Women, Race and Class. New York: Vintage Books.
Fortunati, L. e Federici, S. (1984) Il Grande Calibano: Storia del Corpo Sociale Ribelle nella Prima Fase del Capitale, Milano: Franco Angeli.
Federici, Silvia. 2018. “Marx and Feminism.” TripleC 16, no. 2: 468–75.
Federici, Silvia. 2020. Beyond the Periphery of the Skin. Rethinking, Remaking, and. Reclaiming the Body in Contemporary Capitalism. Oakland: PM Press.
Fortunati, L. (1981) L’Arcano de/la Reproduzione: Casalinghe, Prostitute, Operai e Capitale, Venezia: Marsilio Editori.

SESSIONS 24-25: RACIAL CAPITALISM

MAIN TEXTS
Basso, P. (2010) L'ascesa del razzismo nella crisi globale, in: Razzismo di Stato, Milano: FrancoAngeli
Cillo, Rossana e Fabio Perocco. 2016. “Subappalto e sfruttamento differenziale dei lavoratori immigrati: il caso di tre settori in Italia.” Economia e Società Regionale 1: 101-123.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS

Curcio, A. e Mellino, M. (2012) La razza al lavoro, Roma: Manifesto Libri.
Kelley, Robin D. G. 2017. “What Did Cedric Robinson Mean by Racial Capitalism?” Boston
Review, 12 January
Leong, Nancy. 2013. “Racial Capitalism,” Harvard Law Review 126, no. 8: 2151–2226
Melamed, Jodi. 2015. “Racial capitalism.” Critical Ethnic Studies 1 no. 1 (Spring): 76–85
Pulido, Laura. 2015. “Geographies of Race and Ethnicity 1: White Supremacy vs White Privilege in
Environmental Racism Research.” Progress in Human Geography 39, no. 6: 809–817.
Pulido, Laura. 2017. “Geographies of Race and Ethnicity II: Environmental Racism, Racial Capitalism and State-Sanctioned Violence.” Progress in Human Geography 41, no. 4: 524–533
Ralph, Michael and Maya Singhal. 2019. “Racial Capitalism.” Theory & Society 48, no. 6: 851–81

SESSIONS 26-27:  POST-CAPITALIST ECONOMIES

MAIN TEXTS
Bertell, L. (2013) I territori delle economie diverse, in: Bertell, L et al. Davide e Golia, La primavera delle economie diverse, Milano: Jaca Book: 6-34.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Fonte, M: and Cucco, I. (2017) Cooperatives and alternative food networks in Italy. The long roadtowards a social economy in agriculture, in Journal of Rural Studies 53: 291-302.
Medici, M. Et al. (2021) Exploring the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of community-supported agriculture in Italy, in: Journal of Cleaner Production 316: 128233
Sacchi, G. Et al. (2022) Consumer renaissance in Alternative Agri-Food Networks between collective action and co-production, in: Sustainable Production and Consumption 29: 311-327.

PARTE C. PERSPECTIVES
SESSION 28: BRACCIA RUBATE ALL’AGRICOLTURA

MAIN TEXT
Ippolito, I., Perrotta, D., Raeymaekers, T. (2020) Braccia rubate dall'agricoltura. Pratiche di sfruttamento del lavoro migrante, Torino: SEB27 (intro e capitolo 1: un nuovo regime agroalimentare)

Teaching methods

The course involves a dynamic and reflective approach that includes joint readings, written texts and collective presentations in class.

Assessment methods

For non-attending students, the course will be assessed as follows:

Two short essays: 70%

Oral exam: 30%

Registration for the oral exam is done on AlmaEsami.

For the oral exam, all the main texts must be studied (see bibliography) plus the following monographs:

Celata, F. (2009) Spazi di produzione: una prospettive relationale, Turin: Giappichelli

Vanolo, A. (2010) Geografia economica del sistema-mondo: Territori e rete nello scenario globali, TURIN: UTET

Harvey, D. (2007) Breve storia del neoliberalismo, Milan: Il saggiatore.

Harvey, D. (2018) Geographies of domination: capitalism and the production of space, Verona: Ombre Corte.

Each essay (MIN 1000-max. 1500 words) is composed of the following parts: (1) an introduction detailing the research question and the thesis statement (hypothetical answer), (2) a body of the text in which you address the question point by point in a conceptual way (i.e. addressing the main concepts and briefly evoking one or more examples); (3) a conclusion that links the argument to the initial question; (4) a bibliography containing a minimum of 3 references to the texts used and selected from the course literature.

The word limit includes the introduction plus possible end- or footnotes but excludes the bibliography.

Guiding questions for the first essay (choose one):

1. What is the difference between geographical economics and economic geography?
2. In what ways does economic geography try to overcome the notion of the economy as an autonomous sphere governed by a logic of its own?
3. Explain through an example how the geography of the economy is the product of irregular spatial distributions

Guiding questions for the second essay (choose one, or a personal choice):

1. Why and in what way does the geographical scale influence the organization of production? Explain with the help of an example
2. Explain, with the help of one or more examples, the geographical importance of institutions and governance in the economic organization of companies

ESSAYS MUST BE SENT TO THE TEACHER'S ELECTRONIC ADDRESS NO LATER THAN 5 WORKING DAYS BEFORE THE ORAL EXAM CALL IN MICROSOFT WORD OR ANOTHER WRITING PROGRAM (NOT PDF) IN THE FOLLOWING MODE: Surname_essay 1 / surname_essay 2

ESSAYS WHICH DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED 

For attending students, the course will be evaluated as follows:

group presentation: 20%

two short essays: 50%

oral exam: 30%

For the collective presentation, a group presentation is required (maximum 5 people) on a topic chosen from among the topics covered in the course. The calendar will be organized in the first sessions. Students are required to develop an original example and pose some questions to be discussed in class (moderated by the students). Students will be assessed on how they master the concepts and apply them to a specific case, as well as on their originality and style. The group may submit a short draft of the presentation (including their learning objectives and references to the literature used) to the course tutor in advance.

For the oral exam, all the main texts must be studied (see bibliography) plus the following monograph: Celata, F. (2009) Spazi di produzione: una prospettive relazioni relazioni, Torino: Giappichelli

Each essay (min 1000-max. 1500 words) is composed of the following parts: (1) an abstract detailing the research question and the thesis statement (hypothetical answer), (2) a body of the text in which you address the question point by point in a conceptual way (i.e. addressing the main concepts and briefly evoking one or more examples); (3) a conclusion that links the argument back to the initial question; (4) a bibliography containing a minimum of 3 references to the texts used and selected from the course literature.

The word limit includes the introduction plus possible end- or footnotes but excludes the bibliography.

Guiding questions for the first essay (choose one):

1. What is the difference between geographical economics and economic geography?
2. In what ways does economic geography try to overcome the notion of the economy as an autonomous sphere governed by a logic of its own?
3. Explain with an example how the geography of the economy is the product of irregular spatial distributions

Guiding questions for the second essay (choose one, or a personal choice):

1. Why and in what way does geographical scale influence the organization of production? Explain with the help of an example
2. Explain, with the help of one or more examples, the geographical importance of institutions and governance in the economic organization of companies

ESSAYS MUST BE SENT TO THE TEACHER'S ELECTRONIC ADDRESS NO LATER THAN 5 WORKING DAYS BEFORE THE ORAL EXAM CALL IN MICROSOFT WORD OR ANOTHER WRITING PROGRAM (NOT PDF) IN THE FOLLOWING MODE: Last_name_saggio 1 / last_name_saggio 2

ESSAYS THAT DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED

Exam sessions for all students are scheduled for the following months of the academic year:

- May

- June

- July

- November

- December

- January

Precise exam dates will be communicated on the platform of AlmaEsami.

Teaching tools

The Powerpoint presentations used during the lectures will be made available among the teaching materials but are not considered exam material.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Timothy Raeymaekers