How does context matter in interviewing elites in economic geography?

Abstract

This article advances methodological debates on elite interviewing in economic geography by foregrounding context not as a set of ex ante conditions encountered in the field, but as an active and constitutive force that continuously shapes conduct throughout the interview process. Drawing on the authors’ fieldwork in China and Brazil, we show how context shapes the practices and outcomes of elite interviewing. The article contributes by recasting elite interviews as relational practices that must procedurally adapt to sociopolitical and cultural settings, and it further brings visibility to the recent debates on decentralizing theory-building from Anglo-American countries.

Keywords

elite interviews economic geography emerging economies qualitative methodologies

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alcoforado

(2025) Coisa de rico: A vida dos endinheirados brasileiros. Todavia.

Zhang

(2016) Deal or no deal? The effect of alcohol drinking on bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 127: 70–86.

BBC News Brasil (2022, September 28) ‘Faria limers’ votam com o bolso? Available at: https://economia.uol.com.br/noticias/bbc/2022/09/28/faria-limers-votam-com-o-bolso.htm (accessed 7 October 2025).

Bian

(2001) Guanxi capital and social eating in Chinese cities: Theoretical models and empirical analvses. In: Lin

Cook

Burt

(eds) Social Capital: Theory and Research. Aldine De Gruyter, pp.275–295.

Chen

X-P

Chen

(2004) On the intricacies of the Chinese Guanxi: A process model of Guanxi development. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 21: 305–324.

Chua

RYJ

(2012) Building effective business relationships in China. MIT Sloan Management Review 53(4): 27.

Clark

(1998) Stylized facts and close dialogue: Methodology in economic geography. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88(1): 73–87.

Cormode

Hughes

(1999) Editorial introduction: The economic geographer as a situated researcher of elites. Geoforum 30(4): 299–300.

DaMatta

(1985) A casa & a rua: Espaço, cidadania, mulher e morte no Brasil. Brasiliense.

10.

de Souza

(2019) A elite do atraso: Da escravidão a Bolsonaro. Estação Brasil.

11.

Doin

Rosa

(2019) Interação Universidade-Empresa-Governo: o caso do Programa de Cooperação Educacional para Transferência de Conhecimento Brasil-Cingapura. Cadernos EBAPE.BR 17(4): 940–958.

12.

Escosteguy-Medronho

(2024) Um Brasil dividido? Reflexões sobre a polarização política e social no Brasil contemporâneo. Lua Nova: Revista de Cultura e Política 122: e122041ae.

13.

Faoro

(2021) Os donos do poder: Formação do patronato político brasileiro, 2nd edn. Companhia das Letras.

14.

Freyre

(2019[1933]) Casa-grande & senzala, 51st edn. Global Editora e Distribuidora.

15.

G1 Tocantins (2019, December 12) Bolsonaro diz que alunos de universidades brasileiras “fazem tudo, menos estudar”. Available at: https://g1.globo.com/to/tocantins/noticia/2019/12/12/em-evento-no-tocantins-jair-bolsonaro-diz-que-aluno-de-universidades-brasileiras-faz-tudo-menos-estudar.ghtml (accessed 5 January 2026).

16.

Gong

Hassink

(2020) Context sensitivity and economic-geographic (re)theorising. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 13(3): 475–490.

17.

Harvey

(2010) Methodological approaches for interviewing elites. Geography Compass 4(3): 193–205.

18.

Herod

(1999) Reflections on interviewing foreign elites: Praxis, positionality, validity, and the cult of the insider. Geoforum 30(4): 313–327.

19.

Hsiung

P-C

(2015) Doing (critical) qualitative research in China in a global era. International Sociology 30(1): 86–102.

20.

Hughes

(1999) Constructing economic geographies from corporate interviews: Insights from a cross-country comparison of retailer–supplier relationships. Geoforum 30(4): 363–374.

21.

Hunter

(1993) Local knowledge and local power: Notes on the ethnography of local community elites. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 22: 36–58.

22.

King

Wei

(2018) The role of face in a Chinese context of trust and trust building. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 18(2): 149–173.

23.

Kriz

Keating

(2010) Business relationships in China: Lessons about deep trust. Asia Pacific Business Review 16(3): 299–318.

24.

Lazzarini

(2011) Capitalismo de laços: os donos do Brasil e suas conexões. Elsevier.

25.

Harvey

Beaverstock

(2023) Using Guanxi to conduct elite interviews in China. Qualitative Research 23(4): 900–920.

26.

(2021) How to tackle variations in elite interviews: Access, strategies, and power dynamics. Qualitative Research 22(6): 846–861.

27.

Liu

(2018) Interviewing elites: Methodological issues confronting a novice. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 17(1): 1609406918770323.

28.

McDowell

(1998) Elites in the City of London: Some methodological considerations. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 30(12): 2133–2146.

29.

Magnani

Sanfelici

(2023) The financial industry sets sights on institutional investors: A relational approach to property investment outsourcing. Economic Geography 99(3): 285–311.

30.

Magnani

Sanfelici

Adisson

, et al. (2024) Assetising Brazilian logistics: Power, spaces and scales under asset management capitalism. Finance and Space 1(1): 240–258.

31.

Massey

(1995) Places and their pasts. History Workshop Journal 39: 182–192.

32.

Mikecz

(2012) Interviewing elites: Addressing methodological issues. Qualitative Inquiry 18(6): 482–493.

33.

Mullings

(1999) Insider or outsider, both or neither: Some dilemmas of interviewing in a cross-cultural setting. Geoforum 30: 337–350.

34.

Parry

(1998) Hunting the gene-hunters: The role of hybrid networks, status, and chance in conceptualising and accessing “corporate elites”. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 30: 2147–2162.

35.

Rice

(2010) Reflections on interviewing elites. Area 42(1): 70–75.

36.

Sabot

(1999) Dr. Jekyl, Mr. H(i)de: The contrasting face of elites at interview. Geoforum 30: 329–335.

37.

Sanfelici

Magnani

(2023) Unpacking corporate ownership in property markets: A typology of investors and the making of an investment value chain in Brazil. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 55(7): 1649–1669.

38.

Schoenberger

(1994) Corporate strategy and corporate strategists: Power, identity, and knowledge within the firm. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 26(3): 435–451.

39.

Shenkar

Ronen

(1987) The cultural context of negotiations: The implications of Chinese interpersonal norms. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 23(2): 263–275.

40.

Stephens

(2007) Collecting data from elites and ultra elites: Telephone and face-to-face interviews with macroeconomists. Qualitative Research 7(2): 203–216.

41.

Teixeira

Bridge

(2024) Creating elite encounters: The “campaign” as approach for interviewing corporate elites. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 56(8): 2121–2142.

42.

Ward

Jones

(1999) Researching local elites: Reflexivity, “situatedness” and political-temporal contingency. Geoforum 30(4): 301–312.

43.

Welch

Marschan-Piekkari

Penttinen

, et al. (2002) Corporate elites as informants in qualitative international business research. International Business Review 11(5): 611–628.

44.

Woods

(1998) Rethinking elites: Networks, space, and local politics. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 30(12): 2101–2119.

45.

(2025) The evolution and issues of China’s Elite Groups. In: Wu

(ed.) The Theory of Chinese Modernization. Springer, pp.271–343.

46.

Yang

Bathelt

(2023) How outward FDIs affect income: Experiences from Chinese city-regions. ZFW—Advances in Economic Geography 67(1): 47–64.

47.

Yang

Bathelt

(2024) Reverse effects of outward FDIs: Panel data evidence from Chinese city-regions. SPACES Online 19: 1–21.

48.

Yang

Cantwell

(2026) Outward FDIs, Localized Knowledge Radiation, and Regional Development: Evidence from Southern Chinese Firms. Unpublished manuscript, Jinan University.

49.

Yeung

HWC

(2025) Decentering Anglo-American geography: Theory development and “theorizing back” from an Asian perspective. Asian Geographer 42(2): 101–127.