Call for papers

The Economic Geography of the Cultural Economy

What can economic geographers learn by studying the cultural industries?

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Special issue edited by

Allen J. Scott, University of California, Los Angeles, ajscott@ucla.edu

Mark Lorenzen, Copenhagen Business School, mark@cbs.dk

Jan Vang, Aalborg and Lund University, jan.vang-lauridsen@circle.lu.se

CALL FOR PAPERS

Social scientists in general and economic geographers in particular are nowadays increasingly and enthusiastically turning their attention to the study of cultural industries. Over the last decade a wide range of case studies by economic geographers has been accomplished, e.g. film, television, computer games, recorded music, fashion, advertising, and so on. These studies have demonstrated the dominant (but by no means universal) tendency for cultural industries to cluster in major world cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, and so on. The same cities constitute major hubs or platforms from which these industries then pursue strategies of wider contestation of national and global markets. Many cities in erstwhile peripheral countries of Asia and Latin America are now also focusing on cultural industries as instruments generating both economic development and prestige. At the same time, and even as global competition in cultural products is rapidly intensifying, major world cities are being drawn into global webs of associative effort through spatial divisions of labor in cultural production (e.g. runaway production), joint ventures, production deals, and so on. In spite of the considerable and laudable research efforts that have thus far been invested in these issues by economic geographers and allied workers, we feel that that the time is ripe for a major thrust forward. In particular, it is our opinion that empirical and analytical work in the field has now attained a stage where a number of major conceptual advances appear to be within reach. This special issue of Journal of Economic Geography, then, aims to take a stab at this challenge by means of an effort to consolidate current thinking about the geography of the cultural economy, and to move the discussion significantly forward in theoretical terms. Accordingly, we invite papers that focus on basic conceptual issues in regard to the growth, development, spatial order, and social significance of the cultural industries in modern capitalism. We encourage submission of papers that deal directly with these themes as well as with adjacent questions concerned with the cognitive-cultural turn in contemporary production systems as well as with the political issues that flow from the increasing commodification of culture in a globalizing world. Submitted papers may have a strong empirical content, but are expected to be fundamentally addressed to theoretical concerns. We welcome papers by geographers and non-geographers alike that seek to take up this challenge and to advance the state of current knowledge.

Manuscripts should be no longer than 8000 words and follow the style requirements of Journal of Economic Geography (see http:// joeg.oxfordjournals.org). All manuscripts will be peer reviewed and the editors reserve the final right to accept or reject any paper. Manuscripts or proposals for manuscripts may be sent to any of the editors listed above.

Submission deadline: September 1, 2007

Editorial decision: December 1, 2007

Final drafts due: February 1, 2008

Publication: 2008