With apologies for cross-postings
AAG Annual Meeting, April 14-18 2010, Washington, DC
Call for Papers: Relational approaches to innovation and knowledge
Session organisers: Chris Collinge and Laura James (University of Birmingham)
This session considers the virtues or otherwise of the 'relational approaches' which have become widespread within economic geography over recent years. Although the relational perspective has been interpreted in different ways, it is generally characterised by a focus upon social and inter-firm networks and connections, and what has been described as a topological rather than territorial imagination (Amin and Cohendet 2003). It has been argued that interest in a network approach has been driven by the emergence of network technologies, the rise of outsourcing, and expansion in the distributed knowledge base. However it not clear that relational economic geography is always the best equipped to comprehend contemporary developments, including the emergence of the knowledge-based economy. Sunley (2008), for example, argues that whilst relational analysis yields valuable insights in certain areas, it privileges networks over nodes and neglects social and economic structures. This session aims to consider the relevance of relational approaches to understanding and guiding the knowledge-based economy.
We invite empirical or theoretical submissions concerning relational approaches to knowledge and innovation. Papers might consider but are not limited to:
What do relational approaches add to our understanding of the knowledge economy?
What are the implications of relational approaches for the governance of territories and regions?
What are the spatial dynamics of knowledge flows?
How do social structures impact upon networks and inter-firm relations? How can we incorporate gender, ethnicity and class considerations?
Can considerations of power and inequality be incorporated into relational approaches?
Expressions of interest and/or abstracts of no more than 200 words should be emailed to Chris Collinge ([log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ) AND Laura James ([log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ) by 18th October.
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