Ideas and ideation in geographical political economy

Abstract

Departing from an engagement with the “ideas school,” a case is constructed for (distinctively) geographical political economies of ideation, first on their own terms and then in dialogue with three methodologically generative monographs. The power of economic ideas, the paper argues, is not located on the supply-side alone, in original texts, essentialized capacities or intrinsic qualities. These powers are realized situationally and relationally, through conjuncturally mediated interactions and translations. Since economic ideas are associated with powers, properties, and potentials that are contextual and geohistorically specific, rather than universal, there is a distinctive mandate for geographical political economies of ideation.