He began teaching at Clark University shortly after completing his PhD from Berkeley, remained there for over 50 years, with secondments in Australia, Sweden and New Zealand.
Peet’s doctoral research applied von Thunen’s theories to the global expansion of commercial agriculture.
Along with other authors such as David Harvey he was part of a movement of radical geographers that have drawn on Marxist theory and techniques.
Peet believed that geography must do more than simply provide explanations and descriptions of problems studied, but rather attempt to propose alternatives.
[2][3] During the 1980s and 1990s Peet's focus shifted to the politics and ecology of international development, particularly the systematic underdevelopment of nations peripheral to the capitalist west.