Roles of theories in Economic Geography  To explain, assert causality  Harvey-“developing general explanatory statements of considerable reliability.” generality: the explanation offered by a theory should not only apply in one place or time. It should be generalizable reliability: a good theory consistently works as an explanation; its explanatory capacity will not often let us down, although occasionally it might. theory should not only identify the causality but also give assumptions to predict  by no means everyone in the economic geography tent subscribes to the conventional causal‐explanatory understanding of theory. Some vigorously contest it. Why? social context is all‐important: different contexts call for different explanations; explanation cannot be context‐independent. some phenomena require causal explanation whereas others call for a different type of theory, more akin to “clarification” or “elucidation – richer, more expressive descriptions.” economic geography is home to a range of different understandings of “theory,​​​​​: Theory culture  2 broad culture to theory: