GEOG3010 –Economic Geography (Spring 2016)
Tuesdays and Thursdays11.00 am to 12.20 pm
Instructor: Dr. Waquar Ahmed
Office Hours: Tuesdaysand Thursdays 9.30am – 10.30am and by appointment.
Office Location: ENV 310 C
Email:
Overview:
This is an introductory course inEconomic Geography. This course examines how factors of production like land, labor and capital; economic activities like consumption, trade, production, investments; and institutions like state, markets and corporations alter economic space. With globalization, these processes acquire greater intensity producing cultural impacts like “MacDonaldization,” environmental impacts like waste dumping, and political impacts like weakening of the nation-state. Economic geography makes sense of these changes by understanding how economic processes work, how they change spaces, and how they differentially impact the global North and the South. What is expected from you? Only your intense interest, your dedicated responsibility, your hard work, your beautiful, original thoughts and your most eloquent writings.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand regionally specific economic processes.
- Understand how regionally specific political-economic processes produce mutual dependence and/or contestations at the global scale.
Readings:
In addition to attending the classes, you are expected to read -- at times, the readings are quite difficult, but it is my responsibility to simplify and explain the readings. Students are required to read the assigned material before the class in which material is to be discussed; note-taking on the assigned reading is strongly recommended. Lectures are prepared based on the assumption that students are prepared for class. Based on past experience, students who prepare inadequately for class are unlikely to perform well or at the level of their ability, and they are likely to fall behind and find themselves unable to effectively catch up. Regular and punctual attendance is required. Students taking another class that overlaps with this course should drop either this course or the other. Students are responsible for any course material that is missed.
The required textbook for this class is:
Knox, P., J. Agnew & L. McCarthy. 2014. The Geography of the World Economy.New York: Routledge.
Additional readings will be posted on Blackboard.
Course Requirements:
(i)You will have to take a midterm examination,three pop quizzes and a final take home examination.
(ii)You are expected to be awake, on time, thinking and ready for every lecture. If you are not going to attend a class, tell me in advance and give a very convincing reason, else it will affect your grades (there are points for classroom participation).
(iii)If you bring your cell phone to class, make sure that it is turned off.
(iv)Take-home exerciseis due on the date stated – they have to be handed over at the beginning of class, i.e., at 11.00 am.
(v)I do not want you to work in groups (copying from one another) for any of the assignments/examinations – unless I suggested so. If I detect that you have done this, you will be awarded F grade for the class.
(vi)It is official college policy that plagiarism is outlawed, banned! You can avoid such charges by always citing work you have used in your paper assignment.
(vii)I reserve the right to make reasonable and responsible changes in the syllabus based on our progress, and any special requirement that may arise as the semester progresses. You will be notified about these changes well in advance.
Grades:
The course grade will be based on the following components: mid-term examination–35%; End-term take-home examination – 35%; Pop quiz – 18% (6% for each of the 3 pop quizzes); participation in classroomdiscussions 12%. Your points will be added up at the end of the semester and grades will be awarded as follows (or adjusted based on a curve):
A / 85 to100B / 75 to <85
C / 65 to <75
D / 55 to <65
F / < 55
Important Dates:
March 10: mid-term examination
May 5: take-home exam due
Late submissions will not be accepted.
Disability Accommodation:
The University of North Texas makes reasonable academic accommodation for students with disabilities. Students seeking accommodation must first register with the Office of Disability Accommodation (ODA) to verify their eligibility. If a disability is verified, the ODA will provide you with an accommodation letter to be delivered to faculty to begin a private discussion regarding your specific needs in a course. You may request accommodations at any time, however, ODA notices of accommodation should be provided as early as possible in the semester to avoid any delay in implementation. Note that students must obtain a new letter of accommodation for every semester and must meet with each faculty member prior to implementation in each class. For additional information see the Office of Disability Accommodation website at You may also contact them by phone at 940.565.4323.
Lecture Outline and assigned readings:
January 19:Introduction
Part I: Nature and Scope of Economic Geography
Dates / Topics / SourceJan 21 / History of Economic Geography / Scott, A. J. 2000. Economic Geography: The Great half-Century. Cambridge Journal of Economics 24: 485-504. (available on blackboard).
Jan 26 / Introduction to concepts in Economic Geography / Sections from the Dictionary of Human Geography. (available on blackboard).
Part II: Economic Patterns and the Search for Explanations:
Dates / Topics / Source/Sub-topicsJan 28 / Modes of Production / Wolf, E. 1982. Modes of Production (Chapter 3, pages 73-100) in European People without History. University of California Press, London (available on blackboard)
Feb 2 / The Changing World Economy / Studying economic geography; Economic organization and spatial change; spatial division of labor (Assigned Textbook, pp. 1-19)
Feb 4 / Global Patterns and Trends / What “economic development” means; International patterns of resources and population; International patterns of industry and finance (Assigned Textbook, pp 20-60).
Feb 9 / The Geographical Dynamics of the World Economy / The history of the world economy; State and the World Economy; ‘Market Access’ and the regional motors of the World Economy(Assigned Textbook, pp 61-92).
Part III: The Rise of the Core Economies:
Dates / Topics / Sub-topicsFeb 11 / Pre-Industrial Foundations / Beginnings; Emerging imperatives of economic organization; The Emergence of the European World-System(Assigned Textbook, pp 93-115).
Feb16 and 18 / Evolution of the Industrial Core Regions / The industrial revolution and spatial change; Machinofacture and the spread of industrialization in Europe; Fordism and North American Industrialization; Japanese industrialization: two economic miracles; emergence of organized capitalism; lessons from the industrial era(Assigned Textbook, pp 116-144).
Feb23 / Globalization of Economic Activities / The transition to advanced capitalism; patterns and processes of globalization(Assigned Textbook, pp 145-176).
Part IV: Spatial Transformation of Core and Periphery:
Dates / Topics / Sub-topicsFeb 25 / Spatial Reorganization of the Core Economies / A context for urban and regional change; spatial reorganization of the core economies; old industrial spaces; new industrial spaces; regional inequality in core economies (Assigned Textbook, pp 177-212).
March1 and 3 / Dynamics of interdependence: transformation of the periphery / Colonial economies and the transformation of global space; economic mechanisms of enmeshment and maintenance in the colonial world economy; influence of colonial administration on interdependence; mechanisms of cultural integration; changing global context of interdependence; alternative models of development? (Assigned Textbook, pp 213-244).
Mar 8 / Agriculture: the primary concern / Agriculture in the periphery; land, labor and capital; rural land reform; capitalization of agriculture; science and technology in agriculture(Assigned Textbook, pp 245-273).
Mar 10 / Mid term examination
Mar 22 / Industrialization: The path to progress? / National and global stimuli to industrialization; limits to industrialization in the periphery; geography of industrialization in the periphery; rise and fall of the Soviet model of industrialization; China’s rise in the world economy (Assigned Textbook, pp 274-312).
Mar 24 / Services: going global? / Defining and theorizing services; national and global stimuli to the growth of services; services outsourcing: benefits and drawbacks for all?; limits to service export growth in the semi-periphery and periphery; geography of services; variety in the internationalization of services (Assigned Textbook, pp 313-350).
Part V: Adjusting to theWorld Economy?
Dates / Topics / Sub-topicsMar 29 and 31 / Freedom in the new economy / Curtis, A. 2007. The Trap. London: BBC (Documentary to be screened in class)
April 5 / International and supranational institutionalized integration / Economic change and geopolitics; international and supranational institutionalized integration; spatial outcomes of economic integration(Assigned Textbook, pp 351-378).
April 7 / Reassertion of the local in the age of global: regions and localities within the world economy / Regionalism and regional policy; nationalist separatism; grassroots reactions (Assigned Textbook, pp 379-397).
Apr12 / Rise of Flexible Production / Scott, A. J. 2004. Flexible production systems and regional development: the rise of new industrial spaces in North America and Western Europe. In Reading Economic Geography, eds. T. J. Barnes, J. Peck, E. Sheppard and A. Tickell, 125-136. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing(Available on blackboard).
Apr14 / Finance capital / Peet, R. (2011) Inequality, crisis and austerity in finance capitalism. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 4, 383-399.(Available on blackboard)
Apr 19 / Foreign Direct Investments and Corporate Power / Ahmed, W. (2010) Neoliberalism, Corporations, and Power: Enron in India. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 100, 621-639.(Available on blackboard)
Apr 21 / Political economy of Information technology and openness / Ettlinger, N. (2014) The openness paradigm. New Left Review, 89, 89-100.(Available on blackboard).
Apr 26 / Labor unions in the globalized economy / Herod, A. 2001. Labor internationalism and the contradictions of globalization: or why the local is sometimes still important in a global economy. Antipode 33: 407-426. (Available on blackboard)
Apr 28May 3 / Economic crisis and the future of Capitalism / Harvey, D. (2010) Organizing for the anti-capitalist transition. Human Geography, 3, 1-17.(Available on Blackboard)
May 5 / Take home exam due and concluding discussions
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