There are hundreds of books and thousands of articles that make reference t
o 'emerging markets'. In the UK alone, there are dozens of specialist inves
tment brokers (unit trusts, investment funds and the like) specializing in
'emerging markets', each with associated expertise and literature. Noting t
hat the rise of references to 'emerging markets' in investment and associat
ed texts is symptomatic of a transforming (post-Cold War) geopolitics, this
paper contextualizes the origins and traces the dissemination of the conce
pt. We therefore make some preliminary observations on the emergence of 'em
erging markets', specifying the material backdrops of increased private cap
ital flows, including equity investments in(to) 'peripheral' countries hith
erto more usually designated as 'Second' or 'Third' World. We then reflect
on the 'strange' geographies of 'emerging markets'. Examining the combinati
on of interests and agents involved in the construction of 'emerging market
s', we argue that their 'strangeness', novelty or unfamiliarity belies deep
er continuities with colonial geographical imaginations.