IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v50y2018i8p1697-1715.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A marginal man and his central contributions: The creative spaces of William (‘Wild Bill’) Bunge and American geography

Author

Listed:
  • Trevor J Barnes

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to develop a geographical account of creativity by drawing on Arthur Koestler’s work. For Koestler creativity is sparked by the clash of two incompatible frames of meaning, and resolved by a new act of creation. Missing from Koestler’s account is geography, however. To show how geography might be brought into Koestler’s scheme the paper works through a detailed case study within the recent history of geography: the writing and publication of two very different but equally creative books by the well-known American geographer, William Bunge (1928–2013). In the late 1950s at the University of Washington, Seattle, Bunge wrote Theoretical Geography (1962), a meticulously executed hymn to the mathematics of abstract space, and which helped transform the discipline of geography into spatial science. Then during the late 1960s in inner-city Detroit Bunge wrote Fitzgerald: Geography of a Revolution (1971), and quite a different hymn. It was a paean to urban rebellion, to grassroots neighbourhood insurrection. It focussed not on abstract space, but a very concrete place: the one mile square that formed the Detroit inner city neighbourhood of Fitzgerald. In this case, Bunge’s book was a forerunner to radical geography. Catalytic to both of Bunge’s acts of creation, the paper argues, were the marginal spaces in which he wrote, marginal in the sense that they were distant from mainstream American academic geography. Incorporating them provides not only an explanation creativity within geography, but also geography’s own geography.

Suggested Citation

  • Trevor J Barnes, 2018. "A marginal man and his central contributions: The creative spaces of William (‘Wild Bill’) Bunge and American geography," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(8), pages 1697-1715, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:50:y:2018:i:8:p:1697-1715
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X17707524
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X17707524
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X17707524?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Storper & Anthony J. Venables, 2004. "Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 351-370, August.
    2. Meric S. Gertler, 2003. "Tacit knowledge and the economic geography of context, or The undefinable tacitness of being (there)," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 75-99, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Zhang, Min, 2020. "The cost of weak institutions for innovation in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Laurent R. Bergé, 2017. "Network proximity in the geography of research collaboration," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(4), pages 785-815, November.
    3. Neij, Lena & Heiskanen, Eva & Strupeit, Lars, 2017. "The deployment of new energy technologies and the need for local learning," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 274-283.
    4. Martin M�ller & Allison Stewart, 2016. "Does Temporary Geographical Proximity Predict Learning? Knowledge Dynamics in the Olympic Games," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 377-390, March.
    5. Gary A S Cook & Naresh R Pandit & Jonathan V Beaverstock & Peter J Taylor & Kathy Pain, 2007. "The Role of Location in Knowledge Creation and Diffusion: Evidence of Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces in the City of London Financial Services Agglomeration," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(6), pages 1325-1345, June.
    6. Nobuya Fukugawa, 2016. "Knowledge creation and dissemination by Kosetsushi in sectoral innovation systems: insights from patent data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 2303-2327, December.
    7. Grillitsch, Markus & Nilsson , Magnus, 2013. "Technological competencies and firm performance: Analyzing the importance of internal and external competencies," Papers in Innovation Studies 2013/24, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    8. Feldman, Maryann P. & Kogler, Dieter F., 2010. "Stylized Facts in the Geography of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 381-410, Elsevier.
    9. Markus Grillitsch & Magnus Nilsson, 2019. "Knowledge externalities and firm heterogeneity: Effects on high and low growth firms," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(1), pages 93-114, February.
    10. Jana Schmutzler & Edward Lorenz, 2018. "Tolerance, agglomeration, and enterprise innovation performance: a multilevel analysis of Latin American regions," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(2), pages 243-268.
    11. FUKUGAWA Nobuya & GOTO Akira, 2016. "Problem Solving and Intermediation by Local Public Technology Centers in Regional Innovation Systems: The first report on a branch-level survey on technical consultation," Discussion papers 16062, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    12. Oerlemans, Leon & Chan, K.Y. & Knoben, Joris & Vermeulen, P.A.M., 2018. "Structural and geographical conditions for exploitative innovation : Evidence from South African manufacturing firms," Other publications TiSEM 4abcf615-a0d4-49ef-ba25-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Kiyoshi Kobayashi & Roger R. Stough, 2014. "Knowledge, innovation and space: introduction," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Kiyoshi Kobayashi & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Knowledge, Innovation and Space, chapter 1, pages 1-26, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Brunow, Stephan & Birkeneder, Antonia & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2017. "Creative and science oriented employees and firm innovation : a key for smarter cities?," IAB-Discussion Paper 201724, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    15. Davide Castellani, 2017. "The Changing Geography of Innovation and the Role of Multinational Enterprises," John H Dunning Centre for International Business Discussion Papers jhd-dp2017-02, Henley Business School, University of Reading.
    16. Thomas J. Hannigan & Alessandra Perri & Vittoria Giada Scalera, 2016. "The Dispersed Multinational: Does Connectedness Across Spatial Dimensions Lead to Broader Technological Search?," Working Papers 11, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    17. Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2013. "Firm collaboration and modes of innovation in Norway," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 128-138.
    18. Nilsson, Magnus & Mattes, Jannika, 2015. "The spatiality of trust: Factors influencing the creation of trust and the role of face-to-face contacts," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 230-244.
    19. Chiara Burlina & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2023. "Alone and lonely. The economic cost of solitude for regions in Europe," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(8), pages 2067-2087, November.
    20. Esposito, Christopher R., 2023. "The geography of breakthrough invention in the United States over the 20th century," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(7).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:50:y:2018:i:8:p:1697-1715. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.