Postmodern Geographies

Postmodern Geographies stands as the cardinal broadcast and defence of theory’s “spatial turn.” From the suppression of space in modern social science and the disciplinary aloofness of geography to the spatial returns of Foucault and Lefebvre and the construction of Marxist geographies alert to urbanization and global development, renowned geographer Edward W. Soja details the trajectory of this turn and lays out its key debates. An expanded critique of historicism and a refined grasp of materialist dialectics bolster Soja’s attempt to introduce geography to postmodernity, animating a series of engagements with Heidegger, Giddens, Castells, and others. Two exploratory essays on the postfordist landscapes of Los Angeles complete the book, offering a glimpse of Soja’s new geography carried into its highest register.“A significant theoretical contribution both to the social science in general and to human geography in particular … This literary achievement establishes Soja as one of the foremost thinkers in this difficult interdisciplinary field.”—Choice

“One of the most challenging and stimulating books ever written on the thorny issue of how and why societies use space for social purposes in the ways they do.”—David HarveyEdward W. Soja teaches Urban and Regional Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of several books on African development and on the economic and spatial restructuring of the Los Angeles region.