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Economic geography is a field within human geography that focuses on the spatial organisation of the economy focuses on the spatial organization of the economy. Here, we are particularly interested in the production processes and limits of the “economic”. How do markets and their “market-places” and “market-spaces” evolve? How is something transformed into a “commodity” and how this processes of commodification take place? How are economic boundaries shifting and where can we find economies beyond markets? Which discourses and practices define what is perceived as “economic”, “fair”, or ethically good (e.g. “sustainable”)? Which role do political structures and actors play in the spatial organization of economic processes at different scales?

Whereas production is usually the focus of Economic Geography research, our attention belongs to the other side of economic life: consumption. We investigate how worlds of consumption connect to worlds of production, how practices of consumption are linked to production and marketing, and how globalization and regionalization processes can be better understood by looking at everyday consumption. In particular, we work on questions of production and consumption of food.

In so doing, we also take the material world into consideration: Drawing on theoretical approaches like Science and Technology Studies (STS), Actor-Network-Theory (ANT), New Materialism, Biopolitics or Political Ecology, we take a position from which we see more than “the human” in the “societal”. Society and economy do not only consist of human ideas and values; they also include bodies, things, commodities, infrastructure etc., which make the realization of ideas and values possible in the first place. Henceforth, large parts of our research are attributed to more-than-human geographies or to post-humanist research.

For example, our research group is currently investigating how the use of new technologies in agriculture and the food economy are associated with certain economic ideologies and political strategies, how animals become the commodity “meat”, which consequences the sharing economy has for the new formation of tourist practices and destinations, how recent developments of the knowledge society and the creative economy impact work locations and regional development and how (more or less economic) values are formed on real estate markets.

Methodologically, we predominantly work with qualitative methods. A special focus is on visual and ethnographic methods.

We conduct research in geographical areas that include the city of Graz, Styria , Austria, Germany,Southeastern Europe (particularly Bulgaria) and Indonesia.

Current Projects

Completed Projects

Current Publications

Media Reports

Contact

BA. MA.

Romana Zach

Institut für Bildungsforschung und PädagogInnenbildung

Postal Address:
Heinrichstr. 36
A-8010 Graz

Office:
Geidorfgürtel 21, 2nd Floor

Phone:+43 316 380 - 3849


How to find us

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