David Harvey Research In Historical-Geographical Materialism

David Harvey is a world-renowned left-wing thinker today.Harvey adheres to historical materialism,incorporating a spatial studies perspective into historical materialism and constructing a historical-geographical materialism that combines geography with Marx’s social-critical theory.Harvey considers his most important contribution to be the integration of the production of space and the layout of space as a positive element in the core of Marxist theoretical elaboration.Understanding historical-geographical materialism is a key to understanding Harvey’s thought.This paper provides a comprehensive overview of historical-geographical materialism at four levels: background,construction and content,application,and evaluation.First,the origins and background of the construction of Harvey’s historical-geographical materialism are discussed.The formation of Harvey’s theory originated from the reflection on traditional geography,the crisis and reconstruction of historical materialism,and the new reality of capitalist development and the spatial shift of Western thought and research.Second,the process and main contents of the construction of Harvey’s historical-geographical materialism are sorted out.By integrating the themes of geography and space into historical materialism,Harvey developed Marxism from the perspective of geography.This part systematizes Harvey’s thought in terms of the starting point of theory construction,the construction of history and space,and the main contents.Again,a systematic review of Harvey’s texts summarizes Harvey’s use of historical-geographical materialism in various fields.In particular,this is reflected in the use of capitalist urbanization,the spatial expansion of capitalism,the examination of postmodern culture,and the philosophical analysis of utopia.The fourth part points out Harvey’s exploration in various fields with historical and geographical materialism by systematically combing Harvey’s texts.It is especially reflected in the capitalist urbanization,the spatial expansion of capitalism,the way of experiencing space and time,and the philosophical analysis of Utopia.Finally,Harvey’s historical-geographical materialism is evaluated in terms of theoretical contributions and theoretical limitations.It is important to see both sides of Harvey’s historical-geographical materialism when it is studied.Although Harvey’s theory leaves much to be desired in the study of the critique of the capitalist system,and does not provide an in-depth analysis and critique of the profound internal contradictions under the capitalist mode of production,it enriches the spatial orientation of Marx’s historical materialism and promotes the formation of an overall synergy between geography and Marxist theory.