Care in economic geography: foundation and frontier

As the Journal of Economic Geography turns 25, this commentary reflects on the field’s representations of care and directions for future research. In much of economic geography, care remains an absence, deemed peripheral to the economy. Yet for decades, scholars have shown that care exerts a pervasive influence as a foundation of economic activity. Care is also an increasingly important frontier for firms, finance and technology. Finally, care acts as a catalyst for rethinking and reorganising economic geographies. Reviewing existing work, I outline research agendas to address the distorting marginalisation of care and its transformative potential.