Constructivist economic geographies

Abstract

The paper makes a case for explicitly constructivist approaches and projects in economic geography. Constructivism names and problematizes the relationship between the material and ideational dimensions of socioeconomic change, being founded on the proposition that collectively-held ideas and intersubjective beliefs do not merely reflect but also shape the political-economic world. Constructivist inquiries are concerned with the formation and reproduction of beliefs, knowledges and ideational worldviews; with social norms and commonsense understandings, symbols and imaginaries; as well as with the (trans)formation of identities, interests and institutions. The methodological implications of constructivism are not prescriptive or singular, but they are nevertheless significant. They demand transparency and reflexivity, while licensing experimentation and openness to pluralist dialogue rather than explanatory closure. Curiously, economic geography has barely acknowledged constructivist analytics, and the discipline has been mostly missing from this interdisciplinary conversation. This ought to change.