Section outline

  • This week will provide an introduction and overview of Marxism and explore how and why Marxist thought matters to geography. 

    Prior to the lecture please can you all (i) watch this short video 


    In it, David Harvey uses Marxist thought to explain the 2008 financial crisis. As you watch the video ask yourselves: what tools does Marxism provide us to make sense of the world? What might be missing in the sort of explanations provide by the video?

    (ii) read a short text written by Marx and his close friend and colleague Engles: The Communist Manifesto, available here:

    https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf

    The lecture will explore some of the key ideas presented in the communist manifesto and give you an opportunity to discuss and debate it in small groups


    For those interested, here are some further readings:


    For introductions to key ideas and themes in Marxist geography, see:

     

             Blunt, Alison and Wills, Jane 2000, Dissident Geographies: An Introduction to Radical Ideas and Practice.Harlow, Prentice Hall. Chapter 2. GF33 BLU.

     

             Cresswell, Tim 2013, Geographic Thought: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell. Chapter 7. GF21CRE. Also available from library as electronic resource.

     

             Henderson, George and Shepherd, Eric 2006, Marx and the spirit of Marx. In S. Aitken and G.Valentine, eds., Approaches to Human Geography. London, Sage, pp. 57-74. GF33 APP. Also available from library as electronic resource.

     

     

    For brief overviews of developments in Marxist geography, see:

     

             Cumbers, Andy 2009, Marxism/Marxist geography I. In Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift, eds, InternationalEncyclopedia of Human Geography. Amsterdam, Elsevier, pp. 461-73. Library electronic resource.

     

             McCarthy, James 2009, Marxist geography. In Derek Gregory et al (eds) The Dictionary of HumanGeography, fifth edition, Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 446-484. GF33 DIC, includes reference copy not for loan.See also related entries.

     

             Nayak, Anoop and Jeffrey, Alex 2011, Geographical Thought: An Introduction to Ideas in Human Geography.Harlow, Pearson. Chapter 4. GF41 NAY.

     

     

    (iii)    The work of David Harvey since the early 1970s has been central to the development of Marxist geographiesand has also influenced many other disciplines. Gain a sense of the themes and scope of his writings through reading: 

     

             Castree, Noel 2010, David Harvey. In P. Hubbard, R. Kitchin and G. Valentine, eds, Key Thinkers onSpace and Place. London, Sage, second edition, pp. 234-41. GF41 KEY, includes copies in short loan. Entry on QMPlus.

     

     

    (iv)    Other useful critical overviews and evaluations of his work are:

     

             Gregory, Derek 2006, Introduction: troubling geographies. In Noel Castree and Derek Gregory, eds, DavidHarvey: A Critical Reader. Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 1-25. G69.H3 DAV. Copy on QMPlus.

     

             Woodward, Keith and Jones, John Paul 2009, Harvey, D. In Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift, eds,International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Amsterdam, Elsevier, pp. 24-27. Electronic resource inlibrary.

     

     

    (v)     For Harveyʼs personal reflections on his own work and ideas, see:

     

             Harvey, David 2000, Reinventing geography: an interview. New Left Review 4, 75-97.

     

             Harvey,  David  2006,  Memories  and  desires.  In  S.  Aitken  and  G.  Valentine,  eds. Approaches to HumanGeography. London, Sage, pp. 184-190. GF33 APP. Also available from library as an electronic source.

     

     

    (vi)    In this lecture we will focus on Harveyʼs arguments about the significance of geography for capitalist development and crisis. Through examples, we will consider in particular the critical perspectives he and other Marxist geographers have developed on uneven spatial development under capitalism. See especially: 

     

             Harvey, David 2014, Uneven geographical developments and the production of space. In his Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism. London, Profile Books, pp. 146-163. Copy on QMPlus.

     

     

    (vii)   A lucid essay on the significance of Harvey’s Marxist approach for understanding the economic crisis 2008 is:

     

             Kunkel, Benjamin 2014, David Harvey: crisis theory. In his Utopia or Bust: A Guide to the Present Crisis. London and New York, Verso, pp. 23-50. On QMPlus.

     

     

    (viii)   As a Marxist, Harvey has been committed to developing a revolutionary perspective that seeks the transition to a post-capitalist urban society. See some of the videos and texts from his recent talks on his website: www.davidharvey.org. See also:

     

             Harvey, David 2008, The right to the city. New Left Review 53, 23-40. Available athttp://www.newleftreview.org/?view=2740.

     

     

    (ix)    For a good discussion of wider Marxist perspectives on uneven spatial development developed also by writers such as Neil Smith, Henri Lefebvre, Doreen Massey and Ed Soja, see:

     

    Brenner, Neil 2011, Critical sociospatial theory and the geographies of uneven spatial development. In Andrew Leyshon, Roger Lee, Linda McDowell and Peter Sunley, eds. The Sage Handbook of Economic Geography, London, Sage. HF1025 SAG. Copy on QMPlus.

     

    See also the entry ʻUneven developmentʼ by James McCarthy in Derek Gregory et al, eds, The Dictionaryof Human Geography, Oxford, Blackwell, fifth edition, pp. 780-82. GF33 DIC; and by Neil Smith in the fourthedition of the same book.