Eike W. Schamp
Styles of scientific thought in German economic geography. Current changes
since 1970.
Pages 238 – 252
In the recent history of economic geography in Germany since 1970, there have
been periods of heterogenous and competing styles of thought and one extended
period characterised by a dominant style, i.e. a particularly German version of the
spatial approach (Raumwirtschaftslehre). This paper begins with an attempt to view
these shifts in the context of changes in society and the generations of scholars.
Today, German economic geography is shaped by the increasingly dominant impact
of ideas from sociology, although important stimuli for economic geography are also
coming from the field of economics. The author argues in favour of retaining the
economic aspects of economic geographical thought while remaining open to other
styles of thought.
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