Rescaling: Change agency and the emerging geography of economic relationships

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a theoretical and conceptual framework for articulating and studying changes in the global economic landscape and illustrate this framework in the current context. The framework pivots around the notion of rescaling, which is interpreted from a human agency perspective. We disentangle three theoretically distinct dimensions of rescaling and show how they play together using concrete examples. The theoretical and conceptual framework links the intended and unintended consequences of globalisation to current rescaling efforts, and allows us to investigate when, why, and how changes to the geography of economic relationships occur.