Economic Geography

What audiences will we seek to address?
Far too often we fail to think about who the potential audience might be for a piece
of work, or we operate on automatic pilot, such that the default audience (other
academics) is the one that gets addressed. Economic geographers would do well to
think ahead about the intended audience(s) for each piece of work; among possible
audiences aside from our academic peers are government agencies; students, includ-
ing K-12 students; private-sector groups; community groups; and non-government
organizations. Of course a specific research project is likely to have multiple audi-
ences, such that different pieces of or products from the project will be aimed at
different groups. Perhaps more important, anticipating potential audiences in the
early stages of planning a project can help shape the research design and, if appro-
priate and possible, might lead to the involvement of potential audiences in the
problem definition, study design, data collection, and interpretation of results.
The benefits of involving others from such non-academic groups in the
creation of knowledge they might want to put to use derive precisely from the
different points of view such non-academics are likely to bring to the knowledge-
creation process. While such involvement has the potential to enrich the research
process, to produce knowledge that is different (from that produced purely by
academics) because of such involvement, and to increase the use-value of the
knowledge produced, it can also be a difficult process. Based on their collabora-
tive research with community groups, Helga Leitner and Eric Sheppard describe
some of the problems that such collaboration entails for both the academics and
the non-academics involved (Leitner and Sheppard 2005). Bridging the often-
profound differences in goals, experiences, and language is not easy. Nevertheless,
economic geographers have only recently begun to engage in this kind of partic-
ipatory research, and much remains to be learned about how to do it effectively.
One potential audience in particular deserves far more attention from economic
geographers: the ‘general public’. Economic geography is brimming with ideas and
concepts that are fundamental to understanding the contemporary world. We prac-
titioners of the field need to find ways to communicate these ideas and concepts
effectively to people who lack any understanding of geography, economic or other-
wise. Insofar as most of the students we teach will become members of the ‘educated
public’ rather than practicing economic geographers, one place to start is with our
teaching.