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Marxist geography is a strand ofcritical geography that uses the theories and philosophy ofMarxism to examine thespatial relations ofhuman geography.[1] In Marxist geography, the relations that geography has traditionally analyzed — natural environment and spatial relations — are reviewed as outcomes of the mode of material production. To fully understand geographical relations, on this view, the social structure must also be examined. Marxist geography attempts to change the basic structure of society.[2]
Marxism encompasses the ideas of Marx andEngels, revolutionary socialists such asLenin and later thinkers building on Marx, such asGramsci. Marxist geography is the Marxist examination of society 'from the vantage point of space, place, scale and human transformation of nature'. Marxist geographers argue that incorporating Marxist thinking into Geography enriches geographical thinking.[3] For Marxist geographers, it is imperative that space be understood both as a fundamental component of capitalist production and therelations of production.[4][5] Some of the major concepts developed by Marxist geographers includeuneven geographical development, historical-geographical materialism,[6] and theproduction of space.[7] Today, some of the most prominent Marxist geographers includeDavid Harvey,Andy Merrifield,[8] andNeil Brenner.[9]
Marxist geography isradical in nature and its primary criticism of the positivistspatial science centered on the latter's methodologies, which failed to consider the characteristics ofcapitalism and abuse that underlie socio-spatial arrangements.[10] As such, early Marxist geographers were explicitly political in advocating for social change and activism; they sought, through application of geographical analysis of social problems, to alleviatepoverty and exploitation in capitalist societies.[11] Marxist geography makes exegetical claims regarding how the deep-seated structures of capitalism act as a determinant and a constraint to human agency. Most of these ideas were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s out of dissatisfaction with thequantitative revolution in geography and spurred on by the founding of the journal Antipode. In some cases, these movements were led by former "space cadets" such asDavid Harvey andBill Bunge, who were at the forefront of the quantitative revolution.[12][13]
To accomplish such philosophical aims, these geographers rely heavily upon Marxist social and economic theory, drawing onMarxian economics and the methods ofhistorical materialism to tease out how themeans of production control human spatial distribution in capitalist structures.Marx is also invoked to examine how spatial relationships are affected byclass. The emphasis is on structure and structural mechanisms.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Sub-fields of and approaches tohuman geography | |
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