phg-theory-building
Use when building the conceptual apparatus that organizes a Progress in Human Geography (PiHG) review essay — the load-bearing concept that carries the argument and re-orders a literature. Sharpens the concept; it does not gather sources or run analyses (PiHG publishes no empirical work).
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill phg-theory-building --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Theory Building (phg-theory-building) A PiHG essay lives or dies on its **organizing concept** — the idea through which a scattered literature is re-read into one argument. Unlike an empirical paper, where theory frames a study, here the **concept *is* the instrument of synthesis**: it decides what counts, how the sources relate, and what the field should see differently. Build it before you draft. ## When to trigger - Moving from "there is a literature on X" to "here is the concept that re-orders X" - A reviewer said the review is "descriptive," "a-theoretical," or "just a summary" - Choosing between organizing the essay by the literature's own buckets vs. by your concept - Deciding whether to import, extend, or coin a concept ## Pick the conceptual move | Move | What it does | Best when | |------|--------------|-----------| | **Import** a concept from elsewhere | Read the literature through an outside lens it has ignored | The field is siloed and an external idea exposes a shared structure | | **Extend / rework** an existing concept | Show the field's own concept has drifted or is under-specified, and re-specify it | A key term is doing too much or means different things to dif
- When to trigger
- Pick the conceptual move
- The load-bearing test
- Make the concept portable
- Theory across human-geography traditions
- Worked micro-example (illustrative)
- Checklist
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the phg-theory-building skill do?
Use when building the conceptual apparatus that organizes a Progress in Human Geography (PiHG) review essay — the load-bearing concept that carries the argument and re-orders a literature. Sharpens the concept; it does not gather sources or run analyses (PiHG publishes no empirical work).
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill phg-theory-building --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.