On David Harvey’s Critical Theory Of Space Politics

David Harvey is a representative of contemporary Western Marxism.In the face of a series of new changes in contemporary capitalism,Harvey introduced geography into Marx’s historical materialism,expanded the spatial dimension of historical materialism,and formed a critical theory of spatial politics on the basis of Marx’s theory of historical materialism.Harvey is guided by the methodology of "social process determines spatial form".Through the study of the process of capitalist capital accumulation in modern times,it reveals the inherent logical relationship between capitalist capital accumulation,spatial production and geographical landscape,and thus launches a spatial critique of contemporary capitalism.This paper mainly discusses the formation and main contents of the critical theory of Harvey’s space politics.Through the space theory,Harvey criticizes the capitalist urban space and the global space,reveals the operating mechanism and internal contradictions of capitalism in the contemporary era,and reflects on the globalization led by capitalism.Finally,the paper discusses the theoretical contributions and shortcomings of Harvey’s spatial political critical theory and the enlightenment to China’s contemporary socialist modernization.It is necessary to see that Harvey’s inheritance and development of Marx’s historical materialism should also see its deviation from the understanding of historical materialism.Under the premise of adhering to historical materialism,we rationally treat the theoretical development of Western Marxism.Harvey’s theory of spatial political criticism reactivates the vitality of historical materialism in the contemporary era,enriches the critical dimension of Marx’s historical materialism,and provides a new perspective for us to understand the development mode of contemporary capitalism and its inherent contradictions.