"Globalization" has become a catchall term for describing and analyzing social, economic, and political changes that are seen to mark the emergence of a new global era. In many accounts, globalization is seen as a systemic and inevitable force that operates as an invisible hand beyond the reach of actors and institutions. Contemporary work by economic geographers has sought to challenge this view by turning attention to the practices that make up globalization. At the same time, academic and popular accounts have increasingly emphasized the knowledge-based nature of the "new economy" and the role of knowledge in ensuring competitive success. The two themes of knowledge and globalization have rarely been brought together, however. This collaborative research project links "knowledge" and "globalization" in order to understand how and where different types of knowledge are produced, acquired, and mobilized by firms as they seek to extend their global reach. The project also seeks to examine how these networks of knowledge structure new geographies of economic activity. The project focuses on the globalization of the U.S. oil exploration and production industry and has two primary goals: (1) to understand how firms in the oil industry acquire, develop, and mobilize different types of knowledge to operate successfully in diverse geophysical and geopolitical environments; and (2) to determine how networks of knowledge in the industry influence, and are influenced by, technological, organizational, and geographical restructuring. The research is divided into three tasks: extracting and characterizing the range of knowledge types involved in the exploration and production of oil; mapping of the networks of knowledge associated with the development of three major oil fields (in the Gulf of Mexico, Venezuela, Kazakhstan); and examining the relationships among knowledge networks, technological and organizational change, and firm strategies for extending global reach. Research methods include semi-structured interviews with key individuals in the oil industry and comparative case studies of exploration and development in three oil fields.
This project will be one of the first major empirical studies of knowledge acquisition, development, and mobilization within a mature industrial sector. It is designed to make a significant empirical, analytical, and theoretical contribution to economic geography and the social sciences more broadly. Specifically, the project will generate three major outputs. First, the empirical work will generate an assessment of the different types of knowledge that enable the oil industry to explore and produce in diverse geophysical and geopolitical environments. Second, the project will lead to the development of an analytical framework for understanding the role and significance of knowledge in industries that are extending their global reach. While it emerges from detailed study of the oil industry, this framework will be applicable across a wider range of economic sectors. Third, the research is positioned to make a significant theoretical contribution to on-going debates over globalization and the new knowledge economy. With knowledge becoming increasingly significant as an economic resource and with geographies of economic activity becoming ever more complex, bringing together these two, conventionally discrete areas of inquiry has assumed special significance.
