Ideological Space:A Tentative Study On The Mainstream Contemporary Western Space Theories

In traditional study, western social theorists showed far more interest in time than space, since time was considered to be the dynamic field of social change whereas space was regarded as dead, fixed and immobile. From 20th century onward, social space has gradually attracted scholars'attention. At present, the mainstream scholars argue that space is not objective, but a social production which can produce society. Based on the previous studies on space, the author of this dissertation puts forward the viewpoint that space is ideological on the one hand; on the other hand space is still a geographical term.In the first part of this paper, the author attempts to review the evolution and development of different views on space. In the traditional view, space is an immobile container, whilst in later views, space is regarded as something ideological. Then, by systematically analyzing the spatial theories of the mainstream scholars represented by Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey, the author demonstrates that it is quite reasonable for us to believe that space is an ideological category. In the last part of this dissertation, by elaborating the relation between space and arts, economy, and technology, the author manages to prove that, although, in a sense, space is ideological, it is still a geographical category.The author of this dissertation strives to analyze the understanding of space in a relatively dialectical way. Through carding and elaborating, the author puts forward her interrogation on the cognition that space either belongs to a geographic category or an ideology category.