ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

The major aim of this text is to introduce the reader to the many lines of thought in the literature on economic geography and to tie these various aspects together within the neo-classical concept of the economy so as to provide a simple and logical basis for discussion, further reading and subsequent specialization.

A new approach is adopted to the study of economic geography, focusing attention upon the dynamic and integrated nature of economics at different scales and levels of development. Emphasis is laid on the processes at work within economies.

The authors focus attention on the concept of the economy, helping both to clarify the nature of economic activity and to reveal the importance and sources of economic power as the underlying means of control in economies. They also demonstrate that the operation of an economy and the distribution of economic power are critical influences on many other, apparently non-economic aspects of human existence.

B.W. Hodder was Professor Emeritus of Geography, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London where he taught from 1971 – 1983. He also taught at universities in Singapore, Ibadan, Nigeria and Queen Mary College, University of London. Professor Hodder died in September 2006.

Roger Lee AcSS is Professor of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London. He is the Managing Editor of “Progress in Human Geography”.