Uneven development: general processes and local variations

We will concentrate upon one specific perspective in human geography, which incorporates a particular view of the social sciences as a single "historical social science'. In this argument, we focus on the reality of uneven development across the world and conclude that this can be best understood as a combination of both general processes and particular contexts. First, we present a critique of previous modelling of uneven development in terms of its state-centric nature. Second, we introduce realist methods as a means of overcoming the poverty of focusing on spatial patterns. Third, we put critique and methods together to derive world-systems analysis as a historical social science theory that is sensitive to place and period but operating within a framework of systemic structures. The concluding section then returns to the question of using models across different zones and regions of the world. -from Authors