Read more
This book takes a Marxist perspective to explore the dynamics of space. By employing dialectical materialist logic, it explains how a heterogeneous spatial configuration emerges through the dialectical process to transcend the contradiction generated by the subsumption (incorporation) of an sich pristine spaces into society, with a particular focus on the context of capitalism. The key concept here is 'subsumption', as presented by Marx in 'The Results of the Immediate Process of Production'.
This book is first of its kind that thought-provokingly demonstrates the dialectical logic of the production of space through the application of Marxist logic of subsumption. It succinctly argues that heterogeneous spatial configurations are produced through the society's effort to transcend these contradictions, or the subsumption of space, which transforms pristine space subsumed into a one-point society in formal terms toward a heterogeneous spatial configuration, resulting in an und für sich produced space or space subsumed in real terms. The book also suggests the role of the produced space in potential utilization of space in social struggles. Based on this conceptual framework, this book discusses the built environment, the space embedded in people's minds, and the effects of the capitalist business cycle on space. Ultimately, it presents a compelling case for activists to harness the space produced in their social struggles.
List of contents
Introduction.- The Fundamental Moments in Formulating Marxian Spatial Theory.- Space and Its Subsumption into Society.- Absolute Space.- Relative Space.- Relational Space.- The Built Environment.- The Autogenous Bond of Space and Body.- Business cycle, the falling rate of profit, and capitalist space.- Spatial Struggle.- The Afterword.
About the author
Fujio Mizuoka is Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan.
