TY - JOUR
T1 - Hyper-peripheral regional evolution
T2 - The “long histories” of the Pilbara and Buryatia
AU - Barratt, Tom
AU - Klarin, Anton
N1 - Funding Information:
Part of Dr Barratt’s contribution was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Geographical Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Institute of Australian Geographers.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - In this article, we outline how evolutionary economic geography (EEG) explains peripheral economic development by comparing two peripheries over extended time periods. This comparison involves critically appraising EEG’s capacity to account for peripheral evolution. For geographical, historical, and political reasons, peripheries lack resources that lead to path creation and renewal. The hyper-peripheral regions of the Pilbara in north-west Australia and of Buryatia in south-east Russia provide excellent comparative case studies for understanding how peripheral regional development evolves in ways contingent upon time, state institutions, natural resource endowments, and region/firm dynamics. Our analysis shows that EEG is well equipped to deal with historical factors and capitalist economies but it struggles to reconcile these regions’ resilience and ability to sustain both Indigenous and non-Indigenous socio-economies. Development in these regions over extended periods of time invites questions about whether it is appropriate to apply EEG and its constituent parts: path creation, renewal, and exhaustion; regional resilience; and institutional thinness and thickness. In addressing those questions, we show that EEG can incorporate temporal development, stretching over long periods and economic analysis. We also critique the extent to which EEG can be used to consider how state activities influence path creation and renewal, the importance of extra-regional contexts, and heterodox and Indigenous perspectives.
AB - In this article, we outline how evolutionary economic geography (EEG) explains peripheral economic development by comparing two peripheries over extended time periods. This comparison involves critically appraising EEG’s capacity to account for peripheral evolution. For geographical, historical, and political reasons, peripheries lack resources that lead to path creation and renewal. The hyper-peripheral regions of the Pilbara in north-west Australia and of Buryatia in south-east Russia provide excellent comparative case studies for understanding how peripheral regional development evolves in ways contingent upon time, state institutions, natural resource endowments, and region/firm dynamics. Our analysis shows that EEG is well equipped to deal with historical factors and capitalist economies but it struggles to reconcile these regions’ resilience and ability to sustain both Indigenous and non-Indigenous socio-economies. Development in these regions over extended periods of time invites questions about whether it is appropriate to apply EEG and its constituent parts: path creation, renewal, and exhaustion; regional resilience; and institutional thinness and thickness. In addressing those questions, we show that EEG can incorporate temporal development, stretching over long periods and economic analysis. We also critique the extent to which EEG can be used to consider how state activities influence path creation and renewal, the importance of extra-regional contexts, and heterodox and Indigenous perspectives.
KW - Buryatia, Russia
KW - evolutionary economic geography
KW - Indigenous development
KW - long history
KW - periphery
KW - Pilbara, Australia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118879341&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1745-5871.12517
DO - 10.1111/1745-5871.12517
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118879341
SN - 1745-5863
VL - 60
SP - 286
EP - 299
JO - Geographical Research
JF - Geographical Research
IS - 2
ER -