Uneven Development


Book Description

In Uneven Development, a classic in its field, Neil Smith offers the first full theory of uneven geographical development, entwining theories of space and nature with a critique of capitalism. Featuring groundbreaking analyses of the production of nature and the politics of scale, Smith's work anticipated many of the uneven contours that now mark neoliberal globalization. This third edition features an afterword examining the impact of Neil's argument in a contemporary context.




Global Displacements


Book Description

Challenging the main ways we debate globalization, Global Displacements reveals how uneven geographies of capitalist development shape—and are shaped by—the aspirations and everyday struggles of people in the global South. Makes an original contribution to the study of globalization by bringing together critical development and feminist theoretical approaches Opens up new avenues for the analysis of global production as a long-term development strategy Contributes novel theoretical insights drawn from the everyday experiences of disinvestment and precarious work on people’s lives and their communities Represents the first analysis of increasing uneven development among countries in the Caribbean Calls for more rigorous studies of long accepted notions of the geographies of inequality and poverty in the global South




Uneven Growth


Book Description

In 2030, the world's population will be a staggering eight billion people. Of these, two-thirds will live in cities, and most will be poor. With limited resources, this uneven growth will be one of the greatest challenges faced by societies across the globe. Over the next years, city authorities, urban planners and designers, economists, and many others will have to join forces to avoid major social and economical catastrophes, working together to ensure these expanding megacities will remain habitable. To engage this international debate The Museum of Modern Art presents Uneven Growth, Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities, its third iteration in the 'Issues in Contemporary Architecture' series. Following the same model as the critically acclaimed Rising Currents: Projects for New York's Waterfront and Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream, Uneven Growth brings together an international group of scholars, practitioners, and experts of architecture and urbanism in a series of workshops, an exhibition, and a publication to focus on how emergent forms of tactical urbanism can address the increasing inequality of urban development around the globe. Featuring proposals for six global metropolises - New York, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Hong Kong and Lagos - each developed by a team pairing local practitioners with international researchers, Uneven Growth documents the brainstorming sessions and workshops. Interviews with each team and essays by leading scholars on the issue make the publication a rich resource for students and professionals alike, and a catalyst for worldwide change.




Cultures of Uneven and Combined Development


Book Description

Cultures of Uneven and Combined Development seeks to explore and develop Leon Trotsky’s concept of uneven and combined development. In particular, it aims to adapt the political and historical analysis which originated in Trotsky’s Russia for use within the contemporary field of world literature. As such, it draws together the work of scholars from both the field of international relations and the field of literature and the arts. This collection will therefore be of particular interest to anyone who is interested in new ways of understanding world literary texts, or interested in new ways of applying Trotsky’s revolutionary politics to the contemporary world order. Contributors: Alexander Anievas, Gail Day, James Christie, Kamran Matin, Kerem Nisancioglu, Luke Cooper, Michael Niblett, Neil Davidson, Nesrin Degirmencioglu, Robert Spencer, Steve Edwards.




A Feminist Urban Theory for Our Time


Book Description

What does a feminist urban theory look like for the twenty first century? This book puts knowledges of feminist urban scholars, feminist scholars of social reproduction, and other urban theorists into conversation to propose an approach to the urban that recognises social reproduction both as foundational to urban transformations and as a methodological entry-point for urban studies. Offers an approach feminist urban theory that remains intentionally cautious of universal uses of social reproduction theory, instead focusing analytical attention on historical contingency and social difference Eleven chapters that collectively address distinct elements of the contemporary crisis in social reproduction and the urban through the lenses of infrastructure and subjectivity formation as well as through feminist efforts to decolonize urban knowledge production Deepens understandings of how people shape and reshape the spatial forms of their everyday lives, furthering understandings of the 'infinite variety' of the urban Essential reading for academics, researchers and scholars within urban studies, human geography, gender and sexuality studies, and sociology




African Socialism in Postcolonial Tanzania


Book Description

Drawing on a wide range of oral and written sources, this book tells the story of Tanzania's socialist experiment: the ujamaa villagization initiative of 1967-75. Inaugurated shortly after independence, ujamaa ('familyhood' in Swahili) both invoked established socialist themes and departed from the existing global repertoire of development policy, seeking to reorganize the Tanzanian countryside into communal villages to achieve national development. Priya Lal investigates how Tanzanian leaders and rural people creatively envisioned ujamaa and documents how villagization unfolded on the ground, without affixing the project to a trajectory of inevitable failure. By forging an empirically rich and conceptually nuanced account of ujamaa, African Socialism in Postcolonial Tanzania restores a sense of possibility and process to the early years of African independence, refines prevailing theories of nation building and development, and expands our understanding of the 1960s and 70s world.




Spatial Divisions of Labour


Book Description

The first edition of Spatial Divisions of Labour rapidly became a classic. It had enormous influence on thinking about uneven development, the nature of economic space, and the conceptualisation of place arguing for an approach embedding all these issues in a notion of spatialised social relations. This second edition includes a new first chapter and an extensive additional concluding essay addressing key issues in the debates and controversies which followed initial publication.




Uneven Zimbabwe


Book Description

Uneven Zimbabwe examines the influence of domestic and international financial markets and financiers in uneven development in Zimbabwe, using - and contributing to - the tools of radical political economy. Theoretically, Bond begins with criticism of the classical Marxist concepts of "finance capital" for focusing on institutional characteristics and failing to grasp underlying dynamics. Instead, as economic crisis tendencies emerge, the power of finance periodically intensifies, temporarily displacing crisis through time and space and across geographical scales. But the limits of the financial solution become evident when paper assets delink from the productive assets they are meant to represent, as well as in the role that finance plays in amplifying uneven development across different economic sectors, spaces and scales.




Key Concepts in Economic Geography


Book Description

"A comprehensive and highly readable review of the conceptual underpinnings of economic geography. Students and professional scholars alike will find it extremely useful both as a reference manual and as an authoritative guide to the numerous theoretical debates that characterize the field." - Allen J. Scott, University of California "Guides readers skilfully through the rapidly changing field of economic geography... The key concepts used to structure this narrative range from key actors and processes within global economic change to a discussion of newer areas of research including work on financialisation and consumption. The result is a highly readable synthesis of contemporary debates within economic geography that is also sensitive to the history of the sub-discipline." - Sarah Hall, University of Nottingham "The nice thing about this text is that it is concise but with depth in its coverage. A must have for any library, and a useful desk reference for any serious student of economic geography or political economy." - Adam Dixon, Bristol University Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Economic Geography provides a cutting edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in economic geography. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the book includes: An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field. Over 20 key concept entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject. Extensive pedagogic features that enhance understanding including figures, diagrams and further reading. An ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students in economic geography, the book presents the key concepts in the discipline, demonstrating their historical roots and contemporary applications to fully understand the processes of economic change, regional growth and decline, globalization, and the changing locations of firms and industries. Written by an internationally recognized set of authors, the book is an essential addition to any geography student′s library.




The Urban Geography Reader


Book Description

Drawing on a rich diversity of theoretical approaches and analytical strategies, urban geographers have been at the forefront of understanding the global and local processes shaping cities, and of making sense of the urban experiences of a wide variety of social groups. Through their links with those working in the fields of urban policy design, urban geographers have also played an important role in the analysis of the economic and social problems confronting cities. Capturing the diversity of scholarship in the field of urban geography, this reader presents a stimulating selection of articles and excerpts by leading figures. Organized around seven themes, it addresses the changing economic, social, cultural, and technological conditions of contemporary urbanization and the range of personal and public responses. It reflects the academic importance of urban geography in terms of both its theoretical and empirical analysis as well as its applied policy relevance, and features extensive editorial input in the form of general, section and individual extract introductions. Bringing together in one volume 'classic' and contemporary pieces of urban geography, studies undertaken in the developed and developing worlds, and examples of theoretical and applied research, it provides in a convenient, student-friendly format, an unparalleled resource for those studying the complex geographies of urban areas.