25 NOV 2025 (TUE) 15:30-17:00

Geography Distinguished Seminars Series

Making A Difference in Anglo-American Geography: “Theorizing Back” and Academic Development from an Asian Perspective

Date: 25 NOV 2025 (Tuesday)

Time: 15:30-17:00 (HKT)

Venue: CLL, Department of Geography, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Mode: Hybrid

Via Zoom: Zoom link will be provided upon successful registration

Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=103763

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Abstract:

In this presentation, I reflect on my three decades of conscious attempt to make a real difference in Anglo-American Geography and Social Sciences in relation to theory development, agenda-setting, and impactful outreach. My reflections are grounded in my 2024 Asian Geographer lecture delivered at the Hawaii AAG meeting and my recent work on explanatory theory and the epistemology of geographical thought. I argue that despite the long history in postcolonial thought and feminist critiques inside and outside Geography recognizing the situatedness of our knowledges, we must go beyond the deconstruction and critiques of Eurocentric texts and dominant Western theories. We need new knowledges, both theoretical and empirical, from the more marginal or excluded regions of the world to speak on behalf of these region(s) and to connect with – and be exported back to – the global north. I focus on this epistemological process of decentering and theorizing back at Anglo-American Geography through reverse discourses that do not lose our sense of the geographical contexts and specificities of theory. Reflecting on my work in the co-development of the theory of global production networks, I explain how the key concept of “strategic coupling”, grounded in the transformative material realities of East Asia, has been conceived and deployed to theorize back at dominant conceptions of endogenous regional development in Western theories and to “speak back” to mainstream human geography. I offer some advice on agenda-setting and academic outreach to enhance the research impact and significance of our work on Asia.

Professor Henry Yeung

Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Henry Wai-chung Yeung received his BA (1st Class) from the National University of Singapore in 1992 and PhD from the University of Manchester in 1995. He was Distinguished Professor (and Professor of Economic Geography since 2005) at the National University of Singapore until end 2024. From 2025, he has been the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the recipient of multiple research awards, including the 2022 Sir Peter Hall Award for Lifetime Contribution by the Regional Studies Association in the UK, the 2018 Distinguished Scholarship Honors by the American Association of Geographers, and the 2017 Murchison Award by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), UK. He has published 7 monographs and 1 textbook (3 editions), 7 edited books, 115 journal articles, and 50 book chapters. His most recent books are Theory and Explanation in Geography (Wiley, 2024), Interconnected Worlds: Global Electronics and Production Networks in East Asia (Stanford University Press, 2022; multi-award winning). Since 2001, he has been a co-editor of two top journals in Geography – Economic Geography and Environment and Planning A. He is also past editor of Review of International Political Economy (2004-2013) and serves on the editorial boards of 17 other journals.

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