The rise (and decline) of American regional science: lessons for the new economic geography?

Abstract

Abstract Regional science weaves in and out of the story of post-war economic geography. The vision of one man, the American economist Walter Isard, regional science represented the first systematic attempt to further joint work between geographers and economists. Within this context, the tasks of the paper are twofold. The first is to provide an interpretative history of the rise of regional science, and to a much lesser extent its decline. The interpretative framework derives from science studies, and in particular the work of Bruno Latour. The history is based on archival material and interviews. The second is to speculate briefly on the implications of both the interpretive framework used in the paper, and the history of regional science told, for the new economic geography that similarly attempts to convene discussions between economists and geographers.