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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another Harvey essay collection, November 11, 2006
This review is from: Spaces of Global Capitalism: A Theory of Uneven Geographical Development (Paperback)
As is usual for David Harvey, this series of three essays considers the role of space at both the political economic and the philosophical level. The first two essays are speeches given as Hettner Lectures in Geography at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, the last essay is a reflection on space as a 'keyword' in the sense of Raymond Williams. Together, this forms a small booklet of little more than 140 pages.
The first essay, "Neo-Liberalism and the Restoration of Class Power", is an overview of the resurgence of neoliberalism in recent decades, and the deleterious effects this has had both practically and in academics. Much of this is known to any leftist and the same sort of thing can be found in any radical blog.
The second essay is "A Theory of Uneven Geographical Development". This essay is much more interesting and is basically a summary and example of the typical approach of Harvey in utilizing Marxist economical geography. This text can be considered an introduction to the subject, useful to look into before one would go on to read "Limits to Capital", Harvey's most important work of this kind.
The last essay, "Space as a Key Word", is a philosophical analysis of the meaning of the word space, and its various dialectical aspects. This is in my view the most novel and contributive essay in the collection, as it builds on the work of Lefebvre, Einstein and Marx to construct a concept of space at nine different levels of abstraction. Two different matrices showing the intersection of these levels are provided by Harvey, sure to give inspiration for new thinking on this subject, which I think was the essay's main intent considering its shortness.
Whether it is worth it to buy this booklet separately is hard to say. It can be quite useful as an introduction to Harvey's way of thinking, to be read before some of his real books. The last essay is also a good insight into a little discussed subject, the philosophy of space. But certainly purchase of this work is hardly necessary, any other Harvey book will do as well.
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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a great theoretical resource, July 10, 2006
This review is from: Spaces of Global Capitalism: A Theory of Uneven Geographical Development (Paperback)
Harvey is one of the most influential theorists of our times. He has been doing some great work on global development issues. Some of his initial thoughts are recorded in a recent book called _Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a theory of uneven geographical development_. This is continuation of his earlier works - New Imperialism and A brief history of Neoliberlism. He repeats some of the idea in this smaller book, however, he is working on some new ideas. So if you haven't read the other books, this can be good introduction. However, to get a better idea I would recommend reading his other works.
According to Harvey, uneven development is nothing new. However, extreme volatile geopolitical situation made it necessary for better theoretical interpretation. Harvey outlines four different ways currently we think of uneven development:
1)"Catch up": In this paradigm uneven development is the product of the process from the center that leaves behind residuals from preceding eras or "meets with pockets of resistances towards the progress and modernization that capitalism promotes". He continues, "Backwardness (the term is highly significant) arises out of an unwillingness or an inability (in racist versions considered innate, in environmentalist versions seen as naturally imposed, and in culturalist versions understood in terms of weight of historical, religious etc.) to "catch up" with the dynamics of a western-centered capitalism, usually portrayed as the highpoint of modernity and civilization."
2)Constructivist arguments: The focus here is exploitative practices of capitalism backed by political and military establishment of powerful nations.
3)Environmentalist: Jared Diamond and Jeffery Sachs are one of the biggest proponents of this approach.
4)Geopolitical interpretation: These interpretations focuses on territorially organized powers. "These powers can be organized as states or blocs of states but struggles also occur between regions, cities, communities, local neighborhoods, turfs etc."
Harvey points out that there are many overlaps between these approaches. However, depending on the approach, the line of argument is can change. So he is trying to develop a "unified" theory of uneven geographical development. He proposes four conditionalities that is simple enough to aid comprehension and complex enough to embrace the nuances:
a) The material embedding of capital accumulation process in the web of socio-ecological life .
b) Accumulation by dispossession.
c)The law-like character of capital accumulation in space and time.
d) The political, social and "class" struggles at a variety of geographical scales.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sophisticated analysis of geographical development, October 28, 2006
This review is from: Spaces of Global Capitalism: A Theory of Uneven Geographical Development (Paperback)
"Spaces of Global Capitalism" by David Harvey consists of two presentations delivered at the eighth Hettner-Lecture at the University of Heidelberg in 2004 and a third related essay. These challening works are the product of a thinker who has spent a lifetime of cross-disciplinary study on the issues of capitalism, politics, geography and related topics. Intended principally for an academic audience, Mr. Harvey's research succeeds in providing guidance for others who may want to further explore these issues in the future.
The first lecture, "Neo-liberalism and the restoration of class power" is by far the most accessible in the book. In essence a 62-page synopsis of Mr. Harvey's exceptional book, "A Brief History of Neoliberalism", the author convincingly reveals neoliberalism to be an ideology whose primary goal is to enshrine and protect elite power. Mr. Harvey's brilliant analysis connects growing income disparities with a concomitant rise in militarism and fundamentalism which he contends must be addressed with a revived popular struggle for democracy. The author's thoughts on this timely and important topic is quite simply essential reading.
The second lecture is entitled, "Notes towards a theory of uneven geographical development". Mr. Harvey explores how developed capitalist nations of the north tend to exploit the periphery, creating a chronic state of underdevelopment for much of the global south. The author discusses the concept of accumulation by dispossession and how it is subject to changing conditions, including: market exchange, spatial competition, geographical division of labor, monopolistic competition, annihilation of space through time, physical infrastructures, production of regionality, production of scale, territorial systems of political administration, and geopolitics. The analysis opens pathways for other scholars who may be interested in applying Mr. Harvey's principles to specific case studies.
The third essay included in the book is "Space as a key word." This seemed to be the most theoretical of the three and will probably be of greatest interests to specialists in the field of geographical development. Mr. Harvey shows how human practices define urban space and gives shape to architecture; for example, collective memory and political struggle are critical to defining culturally significant landmarks such as the rebuilding of ground zero in New York City. The author suggests that space must be understood from multiple perspectives and provides methodologies for others to consider.
I recommend this demanding book for academics or persons who have a sophisticated understanding of geographical development. On the other hand, those who are interested in uneven development as it pertains to neoliberalism are encouraged to pick up Mr. Harvey's highly-readable "A Brief History of Neoliberalism" in order to fully appreciate the author's thoughts on this particularly important topic.
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