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Big Structures, Small Events, and Large Processes in Economic Geography

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  • M Storper

    (Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024)

Abstract

The social sciences have tended to look for logics of social processes or of social structures, both of which may be relatively invariant with respect to specific events or may be viewed as determining specific sequences of events. These models are, by virtue of their deep logic, timeless. Most of the recent attempts in social theory to avoid the functionalism and determinism of timeless models have introduced contingency into the structure—events relationship. In this paper I argue, by contrast, that one needs theoretical apparatuses to explain ‘paths taken’ and ‘paths foreclosed’ in concrete events in social life. Small events have a certain theoretical ‘agency’ in the construction of large social processes and the latter, in turn, are the stuff out of which social structures are ultimately made or broken. The case of technological change and industry location is used to illustrate this logic, and its implications for theories of urbanisation are suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • M Storper, 1988. "Big Structures, Small Events, and Large Processes in Economic Geography," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 20(2), pages 165-185, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:20:y:1988:i:2:p:165-185
    DOI: 10.1068/a200165
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    Cited by:

    1. Pallagst, Karina & Dörrenbächer, H. Peter & Weith, Thomas, 2022. "Theories of cross-border cooperation: Explanatory approaches from European integration, regionalism and governance," Arbeitsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Pallagst, Karina & Hartz, Andrea & Caesar, Beate (ed.), Border Futures - Zukunft Grenze - Avenir Frontière: The future viability of cross-border cooperation, volume 33, pages 33-45, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    2. Edward J Malecki, 2007. "Cities and Regions Competing in the Global Economy: Knowledge and Local Development Policies," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 25(5), pages 638-654, October.
    3. M Webber & S Tonkin, 1990. "Profitability and Capital Accumulation in Canadian Manufacturing Industries," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 22(8), pages 1051-1071, August.
    4. Michiel Van Meeteren & David Bassens, 2016. "World Cities and the Uneven Geographies of Financialization: Unveiling Stratification and Hierarchy in the World City Archipelago," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 62-81, January.
    5. G L Clark, 1988. "Time, Events, and Places: Reflections on Economic Analysis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 20(2), pages 187-194, February.

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