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Workshop
"New power from the periphery?
Stakeholders from developing countries in globalization"
Marburg (Germany), 12.-13.11.2010

Call for Papers

Over time, economic geographers have contributed with different theories and concepts to the analysis of the changing configuration of global value chains and thus to a better understanding of globalization. So far, the debate has been dominated by a largely one-sided perspective, which primarily has focussed on transnational companies (TNCs) from developed countries in terms of their strategies, networks and power as well as their societal and territorial embeddedness. Doing so, it has been largely neglected that globalization processes have in many ways and increasingly been influenced by actors from the so-called emerging markets and developing countries:
• The opening-up of many markets to foreign direct investments (FDI) usually is not a deregulation, but rather a re-regulation, in which political actors actively define the framework conditions for economic activities of foreign investors. Priority objectives are to encourage capital inflows and to create new jobs. In addition, aspects of knowledge transfer, infrastructure development as well as greater involvement of national stakeholders in the global markets play a major role. Scale and success of this state control are depending on various factors such as the attractiveness of the specific location and the political system.
• Companies from emerging and developing countries do not only compete with TNC on their home markets or act as suppliers for them, but are increasingly developing themselves transnational activities and invest in other markets. When Indian car producers buy British car brands or when a Chinese steel company buys mines in Australia, then the familiar perspective on globalization processes is to some extent turned upside down.
• Trade unions and NGOs in emerging and developing countries self-confidently contest the activities of TNCs and develop power to influence globalization processes. They have organized themselves in transnational or even global networks and use these relationships. By exercising their power they influence political actors and directly impact companies’ strategies.
Given the insufficient reception of those and similar issues in recent economic geography, the workshop aims (a) at providing an overview on recent studies explicitly dealing with the (changing) power positions of stakeholders from emerging markets and developing countries in globalization and (b) at critically discussing the reasons behind these developments and (c) at contributing to the conceptual understanding of such processes. With this focus, various contemporary geographic research fields (e.g. aspects of Transnational Entrepreneurship, Global Value Chains / Global Production Networks, etc.) will be addressed. The individual contributions should specifically lead to answering the following questions:

1. How has power distribution in processes of globalization changed towards stakeholders from developing and emerging countries?
2. Which strategies are followed by players from emerging and developing countries to generate power in existing production networks or to establish new production networks?
3. Which role does knowledge transfer (including re-migration) play for the integration of emerging and developing countries into the global economy?
4. How important is the specific societal embeddedness of transnational actors from emerging and developing countries on their activities in foreign host markets?
5. Which methods are adequate for the analysis of the named aspects?

A publication of the contributions in the form of a thematic issue in a geographic journal is planned. The workshop takes place at the Department of Geography at the Phillips University of Marburg from November 12 to 13,2010. The deadline for submitting abstracts (up to 300 words) is April 15, 2010. On the acceptance of abstracts will be decided no later than May 15, 2010. The workshop fee will be 20 Euros (10 Euros for students).

Please send your abstracts, registration details and requests to:

Dr. Martin Franz
Fachbereich Geographie
Philipps-Universität Marburg
Deutschhausstr. 10
35037 Marburg
Tel.: 0049-6421-2824410
martin.franz@staff.uni-marburg.de

or

Dr. Sebastian Henn
Institut für Geowissenschaften
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Von-Seckendorff-Platz 4
06120 Halle (Saale)
Tel.: 0049-345-5526012
sebastian.henn@geo.uni-halle.de

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