Regional transformation

From Geography

In his empirical regional study 'Regional transformation and industrial revolution' (1982), Derek Gregory had a first attempt to integrate the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens into the geographical worldview. Gregory's project, what is called 'new regional geography', is not founded on physical geographical conditions - as with the traditional geography - but is based on criteria that are originated from social or structuration theory respectively. The major thesis of the project is that spatial structures are somehow incorporated in social structures and vice versa.

Transformation

The 'new regional geography' contains three steps:

In the first step, the central stages of transformation and the transformation power of regional realities are identified.

The second step analyses the transformation of labor into capital and the consequences of this structuration process. Changes in the labor process are triggered by technical innovations and evolving routinization of work steps, gender-specific division of labor, chronic unemployment, etc. These processes are to be seen as expressions of changes in private property, which turns working hours into objects of change.

The third step consists of analyzing the changing rythms of daily and annual activities within the spheres of household and workplace. Here it should be constructed how time-spatial aspects of action help to win over the identification of the transformative power and the regional transformation analysis.

The three steps above will allow two things; a deeper understanding of uneven regional developments and an insight into the 'machanisms' of the spatial differentiation of society (Werlen, B. 2009, Structurationist Geography p. 52).

References

• Werlen, B. (2009) Structurationist Geography, Elsevier Amsterdam.

Contributors

• Page created by Niek van Enckevort, 25-10-2012