Edward W. Sawyer's Third Space Theory Study

The third space theory is a major achievement of the social science space turn in 1970s,and it is also the core content of Edward W. Soja's urban space theory. As the leader of the Losangeles school, Soja plays an important role in the process of promoting the social science space turn.In this paper, the interpretation of the third space theory of Edward W. Soja mainly from three aspects,first from the theoretical background of the"Third space",focusing on the ideological background and theoretical origin of the formation of the third space theory.He puts forward the concept of the third space based on Lefebvre's"The Trialectics of Spatiality "and Foucault's "Heterotopias",Secondly, it introduces the main contents of the third space theory,including the connotation of the "Third space",the reconstruction of the spatial ontology and the application and development of the third space theory. which goes beyond the traditional dualist mode of thinking starting from a spatial pattern of otherness .At the same time,it is not just a simple mixture of these two kinds of space,but clearly points out that it is both real and imagined at the same level,which goes beyond the first space and the second space.For a long time, in the dualistic mode of thinking, space is regarded as a whole,unified material existence,but "Third space"breaks the whole idea of space, and reveals the reality of space which is obscured by the concept of dualism space.This is the unique theoretical contribution of the third space theory.In addition, "Third space"also involves a number of areas of contemporary humanities and social sciences,showing a strong openness and inclusiveness,and it continues to develop in the combination of feminist criticism and post colonial Criticism. Moreover, Soja has further studied the process of post-metropolitanization with the third space theory, which provided a new perspective for us to understand the urbanization of capitalism and the related urban spatial analysis.At the end of the paper,the author makes a deep reflection on the third space theory of Soja, and makes an objective analysis of the contributions and the theoretical deficiencies of the third space so as to attract the people to Soja's third space theory.