2nd Edition

Spatial Divisions of Labor

By Doreen Massey Copyright 1995
    410 Pages
    by Routledge

    Debate still rages over some of the questions Doreen Massey provoked in the classic first edition of Spatial Divisions of Labor, such as the nature of theory, the importance of contingency and uniqueness, and the relationship of Marxism. This second edition addresses these controversies, and also reflects on other debates which have taken place over the last decade. It contains a new first chapter and a lengthy additional concluding essay in which Massey takes up the issues of the book's relation to Marxism, its position on explanation, its argument about the conceptualization of social space and its relation to gender and feminism.

    Part I: Issues: Part II: Social Relations and Spatial Organisation: 1. The Debate; 2. Characterising Capital; 3. Social Structures and Capitalist Relations of Production; 4. The Social and the Spatial: an Impossible Dichotomy; 5. An Example; Part III: Uneven Development and Spatial Structures: 6. The Approach; 7. Spatial Structures of Capitalist Production; 8. Spatial Structures of Production and Geographical Inequality; 9. The Uniqueness of Space; Part IV: Some Changing Spatial Structures in the United Kingdom: 10. Setting the Scene; 11. Electronics and Instruments Industries; 12. Clothing and Footwear; 13. Services; Part V: The Effects on Local Areas: Class and Gender Relations: 14. The General and the Unique; 15. The Coalfield Areas; 16. A Different Kind of 'Periphery': The Case of Cornwall; Part VI: Class, Politics and the Geography of Employment: 17. Spatial Structures and Spatial Divisions of Labour; 18. Uneven Development and National Politics; 19. Changes in the Geography of Class Relations; Part VII: The Reproduction of Inequality: A Question of Politics: Part VIII: Reflections on Debates over a Decade: 20. Themes; 21. Marxism and the Analysis of Capitalism; 22. Explanation; 23. The Conceptualisation of Space; 24. Gender and Feminism.

    Biography

    Doreen Massey is Professor of Geography at the Open University.

    "If by "classic" is meant a widely cited standard work, then such is Doreen Massey's Spatial Divisions of Labor. Her book unquestionably ranks as one of the most significant to have appeared within the geographical literature over the past decade or so." -- Progress in Human Geography
    "The book is a considerable achievement in a whole variety of ways. Its scope is enormous, the theoretical framework innovatory, and the method exemplary. New concepts are introduced, theory and empirical analysis are carefully interwoven, and there is a valuable combination of breadth and depth in the analysis. Last but not least the book is of considerable relevance to a range of current political debates and the approach should provoke a good deal more empirical research." -- Environment and Planning A
    "With this provocative and stimulating book Marxist economic geography has come of age." -- Geography
    ". . . a powerful and convincing statement of a particular point of view which will, I am sure, be seen as something of a milestone in times to come. . . . an impressive achievement . ." -- International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
    "Massey's radical theoretical discussion is stimulating and valuable, and her review of the evidence is persuasive, and useful in helping us understand some of the links between the regional mosaic of industry and local social and political diversity. . . . the book is a significant and worthwhile endeavor." -- Reviewing Sociology
    ". . . a major contribution and should become a standard text." -- Urban Studies