Towards a Developmental Turn in Evolutionary Economic Geography?

Abstract

MARTIN R. and SUNLEY P. Towards a developmental turn in evolutionary economic geography?, Regional Studies. Over the past couple of decades or so there have been increasing moves within evolutionary theory to move beyond the neo-Darwinian principles of variety, selection and retention, and to incorporate development. This has led to a richer palette of concepts, mechanisms and models of evolution and change, such as plasticity, robustness, evolvability, emergence, niche construction and self-organization, This opens up a different framework for understanding evolution. This paper sets out the main characteristics of the recent and ongoing 'developmental turn' in evolutionary theory and suggests how these might inform a corresponding 'developmental turn' in evolutionary economic geography. Evolutionary economic geographyDevelopmental systems Plasticity Robustness Emergence Self organization MARTIN R. and SUNLEY P.Vers une tournure dans la géographie économique évolutionniste?, Regional Studies. Au cours des deux dernières décennies ou presque, il y a eu une augmentation des démarches au sein de la théorie évolutionniste en faveur d'aller au-delà des principes néo-darwiniens de variété, de sélection, et de conservation, et d'y intégrer le développement. Cela a amené à une riche palette de notions, de mécanismes et de modèles de l'évolution et de la mutation, telles la plasticité, la robustesse, le caractère évolutive, l'émergence, la construction de créneaux et l'auto-organisation. Cela crée un cadre différent pour comprendre l'évolution. Cet article élabore les principales caractéristiques de la récente 'tournure' courante dans la théorie évolutionniste et suggère comment elles pourraient informer une 'tournure' correspondante dans la géographie économique évolutionniste.Géographie économique évolutionniste Systèmes de développement Plasticité Robustesse Émergence Auto-organisation MARTIN R. und SUNLEY P. Auf dem Weg zu einer Entwicklungswende in der evolutionären Wirtschaftsgeografie?, Regional Studies. In den letzten Jahrzehnten gab es innerhalb der Evolutionstheorie verstärkte Bewegungen zur Weiterentwicklung der neodarwinistischen Prinzipien der Vielfalt, Auswahl und Beibehaltung sowie zur Berücksichtigung der Entwicklung. Dies hat zu einer reichhaltigeren Palette von Konzepten, Mechanismen und Modellen der Evolution und Veränderung geführt, wie z. B. der Plastizität, Robustheit, Evolvierbarkeit, Emergenz, Nischenbildung und Selbstorganisation, was einen unterschiedlichen Rahmen zum Verständnis der Evolution eröffnet. In diesem Beitrag werden die wichtigsten Merkmale der aktuellen und andauernden 'Entwicklungswende' in der Evolutionstheorie beschrieben, und es wird dargelegt, wie diese Merkmale eine entsprechende 'Entwicklungswende' in der evolutionären Wirtschaftsgeografie gestalten könnten. Evolutionäre WirtschaftsgeografieEntwicklungssysteme Plastizität Robustheit Emergenz Selbstorganisation MARTIN R. y SUNLEY P. ¿Hacia un cambio en el desarrollo de la geografía económica evolutiva?, Regional Studies. En la...

Doing Evolution in Economic Geography

“…This plurality of foci and research effort is a welcome characteristic of evolutionary studies. But few attempts have been made to try and connect such research objects, subjects and levels together into more comprehensive, holistic and integrated frameworks (Hassink et al 2014, Martin andSunley 2015).…”

“…And, second, it provides a holistic conceptual and theoretical framework for connecting the micro and macro levels of analysis in EEG and linking particular research objects and subjects to broader political-economic processes (Martin and Sunley 2015). This means that actors must always be situated within broader socio-spatial relations; for example firms in wider industrial networks, local and regional state agencies nested within multi-level governance systems, and places entwined in scalar structures and relational networks.…”

“…But an over-emphasis on the documentation and interpretation of complexity, context and difference can foster an inductive empiricism that frustrates attempts to develop wider frameworks of understanding capable of analysing and comparing evolution across different geographical settings (Martin and Sunley 2015). illuminates the discursive and rhetorical devices deployed by actors seeking to frame, narrate and shape economic action and behaviours in current and future path trajectories.…”

“…This much is recognised by its protagonists, echoing longstanding issues in economic geography (Massey and Meegan 3 1985, Markusen 1999, Yeung 2003 and broader social science (Hodgson and Knudsen 2010, Lawson 1997, Potts 2000, Sayer 2000. The call for more "methods talk" (Barnes et al 2007: 24) is timely for EEG in taking stock of its achievements, blind spots and shortfalls, identifying ways of addressing its challenges, and discerning promising future research directions Frenken 2010, 2015;Boschma and Martin 2010, Coe 2010, Grabher 2009, Hassink et al 2014, Martin and Sunley 2015.…”

Introduction to the 50th Volume

“…This is a hugely complex research endeavour and inherently multidisciplinary. MARTIN and SUNLEY (2015) seek to extend established concepts and mechanisms for understanding how regional economies evolve by incorporating a range of new ideas and insights drawn from the 'developmental turn' that has occurred in evolutionary theory. They set out an interesting theoretical agenda with considerable potential to illuminate different dimensions of uneven regional development.…”