Uneven Development: Nature, Capital and the Production of Space (Ideas) - Softcover

Smith, Neil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631136851 ISBN 13: 9780631136859

Publisher: Basil Blackwell, 1984

Synopsis

Urban, regional and international development are usually seen as three very different sets of processes, but from a geographical perspective they show a similar pattern. On an urban scale, inner cities contrast with developed suburbs. At the regional level, some areas are underdeveloped when complared with other in the national economy, and the development of nations' economies in the world varies enormously. Why is this, and what is the political significance in contemporary capitalism? Integrating the political tradition of Marxist theory with the academic tradition of geographical enquiry, Neil Smith claims to demonstrate the systematic spatial patterns that are the hallmark of the geography of capitalism. He examines why the production of geographical space in certain configurations is crucial for the survival of capitalism and considers in depth the linked concepts of nature and space. The book brings together material and ideas from different disciplines to illuminate a vision of the spatial dimension of capitalism.

About this title

About the Author:

Neil Smith is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the City University of New York and serves as director for the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics. He is author or editor of nine books that explore the broad intersection between space, nature, social theory, and history and is co-organizer of the International Critical Geography Group.

Review:

Smith provides a brilliant formulation of how the production of a particular kind of nature and space under historical capitalism is essential to the unequal development of a landscape that integrates poverty with wealth, industrial urbanization with agricultural diminishment.

(Edward Said)

Smith attempts no less than the integration of nature and space in the Marxian theory of capitalist development. The aim is to link two radical traditions―geographical and political―by theoretically illuminating the reality of uneven development. . . . Smith raises the level of the debate on the fundamental question by taking a definite stance. He improves the clarity even of the arguments made in disagreement with him. His book should be widely read, used, and discussed.

(Environment and Planning)

This book is a classic. It deals with fundamental issues that simply do not go away, and demonstrates the enduring relevance of Marxist political economy.

(Noel Castree coauthor of Spaces of Work)

Uneven Development is one of the most important books of specifically geographical social theory to be written in the English language in the last 30 years. As rapid environmental change and attendant political divisions and struggles return to the fore (propelled in no small part by global climate change), this remains one of the few places to turn in social theory for a rigorous and insightful explanation.

(W. Scott Prudham author of Knock on Wood: Nature as Commodity in Douglas-Fir Country)

About this edition

• Publisher: Basil Blackwell
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0631136851
• ISBN 13: 9780631136859
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 198