Globalisation in reverse? Reconfiguring the geographies of value chains and production networks

Aims of the journal

The Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society publishes multidisciplinary international research on the spatial dimensions of contemporary socio-economic-political change. The Journal adopts a focussed thematic format. Each issue is devoted to a particular theme selected by the international editorial team. The aim of the Journal is to understand the formative changes and developments associated with the new spatial foundations of today’s globalising world. It also examines how changes in the global economy are playing out across different spatial scales. Each issue is prefaced by an introduction from the Editors on the topic covered. Authors are encouraged to engage with the public policy implications of the issues they address. The Journal is keen to encourage articles from a diverse range of theoretical perspectives. Within this remit the Journal will publish papers that include one or more of the following:

• Cutting-edge multidisciplinary research

• Incisive critical reviews of the ‘state of the art’ of the topic in question

• Engagement with and interrogation of contemporary policy issues and debates

Globalisation in Reverse? Reconfiguring the Geographies of Value Chains and Production Networks

This special issue on ‘Globalisation in Reversal? Reconfiguring the Geographies of Value Chains and Production Networks’ aims at showcasing recent work that seeks to contribute to and advance on the debates on economic globalisation and the reconfiguration of global value chains and production networks. Standing at a crossroad, where ongoing slowbalisation coincides with new forces such as the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, heightened geopolitical tensions, the emergence of several revolutionary technologies, and the increasing urgency of addressing environmental challenges, many important questions still remain unsolved regarding the nature and impact of these changes. This special issue aims to explore three key questions, including:

• Are we now at a critical conjuncture where globalisation dies and gives way to a multipolar world order as O’Sullivan (2019, 2020) has claimed?

• What forces are driving today’s global value chain and production network reconfigurations (both organisationally and spatially)? And

• What consequences can be expected in terms of inequality and development in such ongoing transformations (if any)?

Overall, the insights gained in this Special Issue have made an important contribution to the ongoing debate on the dynamics of the global economy and provide a good starting point for further theorising the complex phenomenon of reconfiguring global value chains and production networks in times of uncertainty. We believe that the current generation of globalisation is not fundamentally different from previous generations, but the quadruple challenges of climate change, geopolitical tensions, technological breakthroughs and crises and shocks indeed make the ongoing GPN/GVC reconfigurations more exciting to contemplate.

Forthcoming issues

The next issue (November 2022) is on ‘The Post-Covid City’. The pandemic itself poses challenges about how to deal with the virus in the short term; and these challenges are playing into how cities can be—and are being—rebuilt and reconceived in the medium and longer terms.

Home working associated with the pandemic altered the need for people to commute to work in city centres and thus the traditional agglomeration benefits to knowledge-intensive business services that locate there. More people working from home has meant less demand in cities for a whole range of city services. The associated impact on the jobs and incomes of some of the lowest paid in society has been profound. A major question is whether these effects are transitory, or whether longer-term, more systemic changes are occurring.

Potentially, in a Post-Covid world, the role of cities, and particularly their city centres, may undergo considerable change, with significant impacts on the type of businesses located there, and thus the people who work in them. Further, new technologies are being used to enhance the environment and governance of cities, by facilitating citizens’ access to local public services such as bike use and local food delivery. The pandemic also presents new opportunities to enhance the environment of cities through further investment for greener transportation. On the economic front, business and households face new opportunities, but also challenges, as regards how they reconfigure their modes of working and doing business.

The Post-Covid City issue will consider the spatial impacts of the Covid pandemic on cities and the scope for successful policy responses to both mitigate adverse consequences and encourage positive adaptive change.

Readers are invited to consult the Journal website http://cjres.oxfordjournals.org/ for more information on forthcoming subjects. The themes of the next issues are:

• The State and the Covid Crisis

• The Power of Platforms

• Evolutionary Economic Geography and Understanding Contemporary Capitalism: Recalibrating the Research Agenda