The territorial economy : a general approach in order to understand and deal with globalization

The objective of this chapter is to give a first account of what we believe to be the upcoming issues and theoretical questions in research about territorial economic dynamics. Indeed, a better understanding of the territorial economy is central to greater understanding of the roles that networks play in local economic development processes. This proposal is currently being discussed within the European Research Group on Innovative Milieu (GREMI) in order to define a new research programme. Therefore, Territorial Economy is a research programme on two levels. First, it aims to understand emerging socioeconomic questions (concrete, situated and dated) (Part 1). Second, it tries to build a renewed theoretical approach based on the assertion that spatialities and temporalities are not neutral frames, but, on the contrary, constitutive elements of socioeconomic transformations (Part 2)