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Area Studies after Poststructuralism

Author

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  • J K Gibson-Graham

    (Department of Human Geography, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA)

Abstract

In this paper we address the question of ‘what next after poststructuralism’ through a reassessment of area studies. In a narrative of our own involvement with place-oriented research and institutions, we examine the traditional position of area studies in geography and anthropology and its reevaluation by poststructuralist scholars in a number of disciplines. We argue that both prestructuralist and poststructuralist treatments of areas are oriented by a narrative of capitalist development; at the same time, we recognize that traditional area studies has a deep interest in noncapitalist economic practices and relations. It is therefore a resource for those of us who want to create a discourse of economic diversity as a contribution to a politics of economic innovation. The latter half of the paper presents an extended example of reading for economic difference drawn from fieldwork in the oil-palm sector in Papua New Guinea. We conclude with a ‘post-poststructuralist’ reflection on geographic field research. From our evolving perspective, the fieldwork practices that are the principal research methods of area studies constitute a relatively untheorized form of academic politics, creating differences in thought (and thus in the world) via new interpenetrations of concepts and ‘matter’.

Suggested Citation

  • J K Gibson-Graham, 2004. "Area Studies after Poststructuralism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(3), pages 405-419, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:36:y:2004:i:3:p:405-419
    DOI: 10.1068/a3652
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Duncan Ironmonger, 1996. "Counting outputs, capital inputs and caring labor: Estimating gross household product," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 37-64.
    2. Katherine Gibson, 2002. "Women, Identity and Activism in Asian and Pacific Community Economies," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 45(1), pages 74-79, March.
    3. Gina Koczberski, 2002. "Pots, Plates and Tinpis: New income flows and the strengthening of women's gendered identities in Papua New Guinea," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 45(1), pages 88-92, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Harris, 2008. "Development and Hybridity Made Concrete in the Colonies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(1), pages 15-36, January.
    2. Amy Glasmeier, 2005. "Book reviews," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 829-834.
    3. Deborah P Dixon & John Paul Jones III, 2004. "Guest Editorial," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(3), pages 381-390, March.
    4. Giles Mohan, 2006. "Embedded Cosmopolitanism and the Politics of Obligation: The Ghanaian Diaspora and Development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(5), pages 867-883, May.

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