Discourse as a carrier of history: wine tourism in the Negev and its evolution

The literature on spatial evolution has taken a high interest in structure-agency dynamics, but how long-term discourse interacts with these dynamics in shaping new paths still lacks a systematic understanding. To advance such an understanding, this article draws on the agency, structure, institutions and discourse (ASID) framework and refocuses it on spatial evolution. By doing so, the article aims at elucidating the discursive aspects of evolutionary spatial processes and highlights in particular the role of abstract macro-level discourses and concrete imaginaries as long-term discursive foundations of spatial evolution. In this way, discourse acts as a carrier of long-term historical roots and associations. By considering the historical rootedness of the discursive foundations of paths, the framework contributes to giving history a stronger role in evolutionary economic geography. We apply this analytical framework to wine tourism in Israel’s Negev and focus particularly on the historically rooted imaginaries that underpin the development of this path.