Economic Geography: Capitalism, Globalization, and Landscapes

by Barney Warf

Overview

This core text on economic geography from acclaimed scholar Barney Warf provides students an accessible, balanced, and concise overview of why location matters in business and economics. Warf puts capitalism in historical and contextual perspective and examines producers and industry as well as consumption.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538168318
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/17/2026
Series:	Exploring Geography
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Barney Warf is professor of geography at the University of Kansas. His research and teaching interests lie within the broad domain of human geography. He has studied a range of topics, such as producer services, the internet, fiber optics, offshore banking, military spending, political geography, and corruption. He has authored, co-authored, or co-edited ten books, three encyclopedias, 50 book chapters and more than 110 refereed journal articles. Currently, he serves as editor of The Professional Geographer, co-editor of Growth and Change, and editor-in-chief for geography for Oxford Bibliographies On-Line.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
What is economic geography?
Why does a geographic perspective matter?
Themes for studying economic geography
2. Theoretical Considerations
Geographies of labor
Transportation costs
Land as a locational factor
Agglomeration economies
Capital and scale economies
The geography of innovation
Product cycles
The role of the state
3. Growth of Global Capitalism
The origins of capitalism
Why capitalism is unique, and powerful
The Industrial Revolution
Colonialism and its aftermath
4. Globalization
International trade and comparative advantage
Trade integration: The EU, NAFTA, and similar trade pacts
TNCs and FDI
Global capital markets
The World Bank and IMF
World systems theory
Neoliberalism
Glocalization
5. Resources
Energy resources
Mineral resources
Energy and climate change
6. Uneven Development
The Global North and South
Measuring development
Development problems in the Global South
Urbanization in the developing world
The growth of East Asia
7. Population
Distribution of the world's population
Population growth essentials; population pyramids
Malthusianism and neoMalthusianism
Demographic Transition
Migration and uneven development
8. Agriculture
Industrial v. preindustrial agriculture
Rise of the global agricultural economy
The unique role of U.S. federal farm policy
Global meat production and consumption
Sustainable agriculture
9. Manufacturing
Global landscapes of manufacturing
The textile industry
Steel and automobiles
Electronics
Fordism and Post-Fordism
Deindustrialization
Sweatshops
10. Services
What are services?
The growth of services
Laboring in services
Financial services
Telecommunications
The globalization of services
Tourism
11. Digital geographies
Growth and impacts of the internet
Geographies of e-commerce
12. Geographies of consumption
The historical context of consumption
Theorizing consumption
Geographies of retail trade
Overconsumption and environmental degradation
13. Conclusions
Careers in economic geography