A Study Of Edward W.Soja's Spatial Theory

Edward.W.Soja,a well-known Contemporary American postmodern geographer,proposed a unique theory of spatial criticism,which is based on the inheritance and development of the space thoughts of Henri Lefebvre,Michel Foucault,David Harvey and so on.He introduced geography into Western Marxism,opened up a critical perspective of spatiality,constructed geography-historical materialism,enriched and developed the historical materialism of Marx.Soja is opposed to the previous ways used to simply analyze the society based on the dimensions of time,trying to make an general criticism to the society.In his view,criticizing society not only from the dimension of time but also from that of space.Therefore he animadverts the historical determinism,spatializes Marxism,and establishes the spatialized ontology,that is Social-Spatial Dialectics,emphasizing the dialectical relationship among society existence and time and space.On that basis,he takes the Social-Spatial Dialectics as the theoretical guidance,proposed a new politicized space consciousness through the deconstruction and reconstruction of the first space and the second space,that is "The third space".He regards "The third space" as a completely open space,which encourages people to think about the meaning of space with the infinite open thinking mode.He developed "The third space" into a radical political discourse in his study of post-metropolitan conditions,explained the social behavior and social conflict of marginalized,oppressed groups.After the critical reflection of the crisis in the Post Metropolitan,he creatively proposed the path to realize spatial justice through the analysis of various injustices in the urban space.Soja's spatial theory not only transcends the dogmatism of traditional historical determinism,but also avoids the mire of anti-history,which plays an important role on the development of western critical theories of space,enlighting Western critical theory of space should always adhere to the historical materialism,and enriching and developing the critical perspective of space.Its theory deepened the critical of capital into the construction of space,which profoundly reveals the construction process of the urban space and the global space under capital.Soja's spatial theory restoring and developing the spatial dimension of analysis of social reality of historical materialism,providing a new open perspective for the study of social history,and promoting themodern development of Marxism.He put too much emphasis on space,and excessive interpreting of completely open of the third space,with some fantasy and unrealistic color.But he put forward open thinking of space and the way to Spatial Justice in his investigation and study,which is of great significance to analyze the current development situation of Chinese urbanization,to plan urban space rationally,to take a new road of urbanization and to promote the urbanization construction of contemporary China.