The Economics of Cities and Regions Assignment - Analytical Essay

Background: In this assignment the commodity is seen as the 'cell' of the economy and the commodity chain is its 'DNA'. Tracing a commodity through its chain thus helps us to understand all kits of social, cultural and economic processes that link the global economy, including local sites of production and consumption across the world. In conceptual terms, this is 'defetishising the commodity', that is, unveiling the processes and geographies behind its production, exchange, marketing and consumption. Beginning with a commodity consumed in Sydney, this assignment asks you to trace its global chain - its sites of production and consumption. The assignment takes the form a structured, analytical essay that 'follow the thing' (see Cook et al. 2007 for how to 'follow the thing').

The brief: Choose one typical 'Australian' commodity consumed in Sydney (some examples include Cadbury chocolate bars, Bonds underwear, Uggboots, and Heinz tomato sauce, but you can choose another commodity).

Conduct 'geographical detective work' (Cook et al. 2007) about where the commodity is made, what elements go into its production, and how it is marketed and consumed in Sydney and/or Australia. Explore, compare and analyse the economic and labour conditions at the commodity's sites of production and consumption. Your analysis is founded on the idea of 'defetishising the commodity' and aims to explain what such a study reveals about global economic processes and uneven development. It should show the ways in which we are connected with others through consumption and different kinds of markets.

The analytical essay takes a structured format, following these five sections:

1. Introduction and conceptual framework (200 words): What product have you chosen? You then need to explain the conceptual framework for 'following the things', which is to defetishise the commodity. What does 'commodity fetishism' mean, what is the aim of defetishising, and what do we learn from 'following the things'?

2. The commodity (100 words): Who owns the commodity? Where is the company headquartered (which addresses its ownership)? Is the company economically successful? What are the conditions of economic development in that country?

3. The commodity chain (100 words): Starting with the site of consumption (Sydney), trace the different sites of production for the commodity. These may include sites of resource extraction, manufacture, design and/a assembly. Each site, from production to consumption, is a 'link' in the chain. You might like to use a map. What roles and/or processes are involved at each link, including the site of consumption (e.g. transport, marketing, retailing, etc)? How are different points in the chain connected? What kind of relationships are established through these connections?

4. Economic and labour conditions at the sites of production and consumption (400 words): This is a really important part of the analysis. Describe the economic and labour conditions at the sites of production and consumption. At the sites of production: Who is employed in producing the product; what are their working conditions; what is the economic standing of the region or country; have there been labour disputes? At the site of consumption: Who consumes the product; how is it marketed; how is it retailed what is the economic standing of Sydney/Australia? Then, critically compare economic and labour conditions at the sites of product vis-à-vis the site of consumption.

5. Conclusion (200 words) What does your 'follow the thing' analysis say about economic processes, globalization and uneven development?

Attachment:- Assignment Files.zip