The Dictionary of Human Geography

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the service component in ‘manufacturing’ and

the manufacturing component in ‘services’.

The most recent work on the geographies of

services has developed around four broad

themes (Dicken, 2006). The first is the inter-

nationalization or globalizationof service

firms, with attention to why, how and to what

effect they are becoming international in

scope. In tandem with this emphasis on the

dynamics of geographical expansion has come

a widening in those industries in which geog-

raphers have performed empirical studies.

We know now more about what is going on

in more service industries. The second theme

is the intra-organizational dynamics of the ser-

vice industries; in particular, on the strategies

of small and medium-sized firms. In some

parts of the world it is these types of com-

panies, and not the largest transnational

corporations, that are behind the growth

of urban and regional economies. The third

theme is the emergence of theknowledge

economy: the rise of service activities as a

function of the production and circulation of

knowledge, and the growth of the knowledge

industries – accountancies, business schools,

consultancies of all types, law firms and so

on – directed towards the construction of

knowledge for economic gain. The fourth

theme isperformanceand, specifically, the

ways in which services are ’performed’, reflect-

ing the imprint of thecultural turnoneco-

nomic geography(Thrift, 2005b).

These re-definitions and conceptual ela-

borations are vital because services have

increased their absolute and relative import-

ance in theeconomy(Bryson, Daniels and

Warf, 2004). Service industries now contrib-

ute significantly to the economic performance

of nations and cities and employ a growing

number of workers. While geographers, and

other social scientists, have been disputing

how best to define services, others have been

debating their economic importance, making

political cases for and against particular forms

of state intervention on the basis of projected

economic impacts. This emphasis on service

industries only reconfirms the importance

of the work of geographers in this area of

research. kwa

Suggested reading

Bryson, Daniels and Warf (2004); Dicken (2006).

settlement continuity The continuity of

sites of settlement and systems of territorial

organization across periods of social trans-

formation, particularly associated with the

arrival of new peoples andpowerstructures

into an area (cf.sequent occupance). Inhis-

torical geography, the term is most closely

associated with a debate over the situation

in Britain after the collapse of the Roman

occupation and the establishment of the

Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. At one extreme is

the view that the sparse representation of

Britishplace namesreflects an equally sparse

Romano-British population that was rapidly

overwhelmed by Anglo-Saxon immigrants

who created their own distinctivelandscapes.

At the other is the view that the Anglo-Saxons

were a small minority who rapidly acquired

political control without diluting the ethnic

identityof the British people. The latter is

less well supported than the former, although

evidence remains ambiguous for both sides of

the debate. There are many instances of pre-

English names adopted by the Anglo-Saxons

and toponymic evidence suggests some kind

of peaceful coexistence or cohabitation of

British and Old English speakers (Cameron,

1980). The nature of the links to the Romano-

British past clearly varied from region to

region, but even in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom

of Kent (a Roman name), founded by the

middle of the fifth century, there is evidence

of continuity in urban settlement and the

estate structure in the countryside through a

distinctive system oflathes(county subdivi-

sions) centred on royal vills (townships)

(Everitt, 1986). Similar systems are found

over wide areas of northern England, suggest-

ing that it was very old indeed. In much of the

kingdom of Northumbria, the main units of

authority extended over areas of c.100 square

miles, centring on a royalvill to which all

the inhabitants owed dues. Indeed, a system

of this kind can be documented from later

sources to have extended over a continuous

belt from Wales across northern England into

Scotland. It is possible that such forms of ter-

ritorial organization reflect the impress of a

Romano-British past that is also detectable in

Kent (Jones, 1976). However, such views also

have to confront the relative dearth of arch-

aeological evidence for the Britons from the

period afterad400 in the southern and east-

ern areas of England. Nonetheless, there are

few Anglian graves in the most northerly

English regions, which certainly remained

largely British. Furthermore, several Anglo-

Saxon dynasties may have been partly British

in origin (Wessex), suggesting that early

Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were often older

organizations that had come under invaders’

control, while the great majority of the

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SETTLEMENT CONTINUITY