Reflections on "Post-Modernism" in the American City. David Harvey. Proletarian
revolution isthe critique of human geography through which individuals and.
Flexible Accumulation through Urbanization Reflections on "Post-Modernism" in the American City Author(s): David Harvey Source: Perspecta, Vol. 26, Theater, Theatricality, and Architecture (1990), pp. 251-272 Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Perspecta. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1567167 Accessed: 30/11/2008 21:05 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mitpress. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
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FlexibleAccumulation ThroughUrbanization Reflectionson "Post-Modernism"in the AmericanCity David Harvey
is thecritique Proletarian revolution ofhuman and geographythroughwhichindividuals communitieshaveto createplacesandevents suitablefortheirown appropriation, no longer just of theirlabour,butof theirtotalhistory. Guy Debord, Societyof theSpectacle.
Timesarehard,but (post)modem. Adaptationof an Italiansaying.
25I
This paperwas originallypresentedat the symposiumDevelopingtheAmericanCity, Societyand in theRegionalCitywhich was held at the YaleSchoolof Architecturein February,I987. Architecture
Introduction architecture andthepassage endofmodernist Charles Jencksdatesthesymbolic to the post-modemas 3:32p.m. onJuly I5th, I972, when the Pruitt-Igoehousing "machineformodemliving")was development(a versionof Le Corbusier's dynamitedasanunlivableenvironmentforthe low-incomepeopleit housed. Shortlythereafter,PresidentNixon officiallydeclaredthe urbancrisisover. Nineteenseventy-twois not a baddateforsymbolizingallkindsof othertransitions in the politicaleconomyof advancedcapitalism.It is roughlysincethenthatthe capitalistworld,shakenout of the suffocatingtorporof the stagflationthatbrought the longpostwarboomto a wimperingend, hasbegunto evolvea seeminglynew andquitedifferentregimeof capitalaccumulation.Setin motionduringthe severe recessionof I973-5andfurtherconsolidated duringthe equallysavagedeflationof I98I-2 (the "Reagan" recession),the new regimeis markedby a startlingflexibility with respectto labourprocesses,labourmarkets,products,andpatternsof It has,at the sametime, entrainedrapidshiftsin the patterningof consumption.2 unevendevelopment,bothbetweensectorsandgeographical regions-a process aidedby the rapidevolutionof entirelynew financialsystemsandmarkets.These enhancedpowersof flexibilityandmobilityhavepermittedthe new regimeto be imposedupona labourforcealreadyweakenedby two savageboutsof deflationthat sawunemploymentriseto unprecedented post-warlevelsin allthe advanced forexample,from capitalistcountries(save,perhaps,Japan).Rapiddisplacements, the advancedcapitalistcountriesto the newly industrializing countries,orfrom to unskilledservicejobs, hammeredhomethe weaknessof skilledmanufacturing labourandits inabilityto resistsustainedlevelsof highunemployment,rapid of skills,andmodest(if any) increasesin the real destructionandreconstruction alsoundermined the powerof the stateto wage. Politicaleconomiccircumstances protectthe socialwage, evenin thosecountrieswith governmentsseriously commitedto defenseof the welfarestate. Althoughthe politicsof resistancemay havevaried,austerityandfiscalretrenchment,sometimesaccompanied by the in the advanced havebecomewidespread resurgenceof a virulentneo-conservatism, capitalistworld. aboutculturalandintellectuallifesinceI972 is how it, too, has Whatis remarkable
thesepolitical-economic inwaysthatappear to parallel transformed beenradically ofthe of"highmodernity forexample,thepractices Consider, transformations. hadbythenlostallsemblance in I972.Modernism international style"aspracticed of all orUtopianprogram of socialcritique.Theprotopolitical (thetransformation had of space)hadfailedandmodernism sociallifebywayofthetransformation TheLanguage Architecture, 4thed.(London:AcademyEditions,I984), p. 9. ofPost-Modern CharlesJencks, 2 SeeP.A. Armstrong, SinceWorld WarTwo(London:Fontana,I984); A.Glyn,andJ.Harrison, Capitalism M. Piore andC.Sabel,TheSecond M.A. Aglietta,A Theory (London:NLB, I974); ofRegulation Divide(New York:BasicBooks,I984); A. ScottandM.Storper, Industrial Work, eds.,Production, TheGeographical Capatalism Anatomy ofIndustrial Territory: (London:AllenandUnwin, I986); and FromFordistto Flexible of the Transition andGeopolitical Consequences Harvey,"TheGeographical New Economic at Conference on the Accumulation America's (Presented Washington, Geography, I
D. C., April 29-30, I987).
252
'o
~t
becomecloselylinkedto capitalaccumulation througha projectof Fordist modernization characterized andefficiency.3 byrationality, functionality, By I972, wasasstiflingandtorporous modernist architecture asthecorporate powerit inarchitectural thestagflation of represented. practice paralleled Stagflation it wasnoaccident thatVenturi, ScottBrown,andIzenour capitalism (perhaps in I972).4 Criticsofmodernity LasVegas hadbeenaround for published Learningfrom averylongtime(thinkofJaneJacobs's American Cities, LifeandDeathofGreat in I96I)andtherewasa sense,ofcourse,inwhichtherevolutionary published cultural movement ofthe I96oswasfashioned asa critical to rationality, response andefficiencyineverything.Butit tookthe I973 crisisto shakeupthe functionality, betweenartandsocietyto allowpost-modernism to becomeboth relationship acceptedandinstitutionalized. "Post-modernism" is, however,a mostcontentiousterm. Mostagreethatit entails somekindof reactionto "modernism." But sincethe meaningof thattermis a muddle,the reactionsto it aredoublyso. Thereappears,however,to be somekind of consensus"thatthe typicalpost-modernist artifactis playful,pluralist,selfironizingandeven schizoid;andthatit reactsto the austereautonomyof high modernismby impudentlyembracingthe languageof commerceandthe "itsstancetowardsculturaltraditionis one of irreverent commodity."Furthermore, undermines allmetaphysical solemnities, pastiche,andits contriveddepthlessness sometimesby a brutalaestheticsof squalorandshock."5But evenin a fieldlike
isclearlyinviewandwherewriterslikeJencks wherethe"artifact" architecture, isabout,themeaning havesoughtto definewhatpost-modernism anddefinition of Inotherfields,wherepost-modernism thetermstillremains has incontention.6 withpost-structuralism, becomeintertwined andthelike,matters deconstruction, Intheurbancontext,therefore, I shallsimply havebecomeevenmoreobscure.7 assignifying abreakwiththeideathatplanning characterize and post-modernism shouldfocusonlarge-scale, austere and rational, technologically development efficient"international traditions, style"design,andthatvernacular functionally fromfunctions localhistory,andspecialized ofintimacyto spatial designsranging shouldbeapproached withamuchgreater eclecticism of style. grandspectacle it seemsto me,seekssomekindof accommodation Thiskindofpost-modernism, thathasemerged sinceI973. Ithas withthemoreflexibleregimeof accumulation ofnew soughtacreativeandactive,ratherthana passive,roleinthepromotion withflexibleaccumulation, eventhough andpractices consistent cultural attitudes seeit ascontaining for suchasFrampton, someofitsdefenders, potentialities Theinstitutionalization to capitalist aswellasconformity resistance imperatives.8 andhegemonyof "post-modernism" rests,therefore,uponthe creationof a distinctive"culturallogic"in late capitalism.9 3 F.Jameson,"The Politicsof Theory: IdeologicalPositionsin the Post modem Debate," New German Critique33: pp. 53-65. Las Vegas(Cambridge: MIT Press, I972). 4 R. Venturi,D. Scott-Brown, andS. Izenour,Learningfrom 5 T. Eagleton,"Awakeningfrom Modernity,."TimesLiterarySupplement February20, I987. 6 Jencks, Post-Modern Architecture.
David Harvey
Not onlyhavecapitalism and Oneotherelementto thepicturemustbeconsidered. a seachange,but cultural andideological itsassociated practices togetherundergone havelikewiseshifted.The our"discourses" buzz-word) (tousethecurrent oftheoryfor theabandonment of stucturalist deconstruction interpretations, inmuchof socialscience,thegeneral awayfromMarxism backing empiricism andthesenseoffutilityintherealmof andintellectual reasons) (forbothpolitical ofall of "theother"andthereduction realrepresentation (theimpenetrability to our to preserve to a"text")makeit verydifficult anysenseofcontinuity meaning thatsetinaround1972.Wetalkedaboutthe of thattransformation understanding to now. Yethere, worldina different then,compared language way,usedadifferent achieved transformation too,I thinka casecanbemadethatthepolitical-economic crisesandworkingclassdefeatshaveaffected of economic a succession through Thatsoundslike,andis, oldandideological aswellascultural discourses practices.x? atthewayin ButI cannothelpbutbeimpressed Marxian fashioned argument. whichawholeworldofthoughtandcultural practice,ofeconomyandinstitutions, aswe watchedthedustexplode ofpoliticsandwaysof relating, beganto crumble down. comecrashing andthewallsof Pruitt-Igoe upwards Urbanization Accumulation Flexible Through forunderiscritical I haveargued of urbanization, Anunderstanding elsewhere, Ithaspartlybeenthroughshiftsin ofcapitalism.? thehistorical geography standing havebeenso theurbanprocessthatthenewsystemsofflexibleaccumulation have oftheriseofmodernism historians Butalso,asvarious implanted. successfully moveandcultural betweenaesthetic pointedout,thereisanintimateconnection It seemsreasonable, natureoftheurbanexperience."2 mentandthechanging of intheurbanprocessasakeypointofintegration to lookattransitions therefore, andtheculturalflexibleaccumulation movetowards thepolitical-economic trendtowards aesthetic post-modernism. itsspotsintheUnited Urbanization else,dramatically has,likeeverything changed onthe of I973-5 putincredible StatessinceI972. Theglobaldeflation pressure of shrinking baseofmanyurbanregions.A combination markets, employment of labour, andtheglobaldivision constraints rapidshiftsin spatial unemployment, andfinancial layatthe reorganization, capitalflight,plantclosings,technological 7 SeeA. Huyssen,"Mappingthe PostModern,"NewGerman 33: pp.5-52. Critique in C.Johnson,ed., of Resistance." on anArchitecture 8 K.Frampton, "CriticalRegionalism: Speculations TheCityin Conflict(London:Mansell,I985). 9 Jameson,"Post Modernism,or, The CulturalLogic of LateCapitalism,"New Left ReviewI46: pp. 53-92.
in the Transition of HumanGeography, io SeeD. HarveyandA. Scott,"Practice Theory,andSpecificity ed Remodelling in W. MacMillan, to flexibleAccumulation" fromFordism Geography (Oxford:Basil Blackwell,forthcoming). andthe Urban II Harvey,The Urbanization of Capital(Oxford: BasilBlackwell, I985); idem, Conciousness
Experience (Oxford:BasilBlackwell,I985). andJ. 12M.Berman,All ThatIs SolidMeltsIntoAir (New York:SimonandSchuster,I982), M. Bradbury Modernism Pelican,I976) T.J.Clark,ThePainting McFarlane, ofModern Life:Paris (Hammondsworth: in theArtofManetandhisFollowers Fragments ofModernity (New York:Knopf,I985) andD. Frisby, (Oxford: Polity Press, I986).
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wasnotonlyto otherregionsand Thegeographical rootofthatpressure. dispersal ofpopulations and nations,it included yet another phaseofurbandeconcentration andintoruralandsmall-town America inawaythat beyondthesuburbs production almost seemed like the fulfillmentof Marx'spredictionof the "urbanizationof the
Fixedcapitalinvestments andphysical infrastructures inexisting countryside". locations wereconsequently threatened withmassivedevaluation, thusundermining taxbaseandfiscalcapacityofmanyurbangovernments theproperty ata timeof socialneed.Tothedegreethatfederal redistributions alsobecameharder increasing to capture(thiswasthe importof Nixon'sdeclaration in I973), so socialconsumption was reduced,forcing more and more governments to a politicaleconomy of retrenchmentand disciplinaryaction againstmunicipalemployees and the local real wage. It was exactly in such a context that New YorkCity went into technical bankruptcyin I975, presaginga wave of fiscaldistressand radicalrestructuringfor many U. S. cities."3 Ruling class alliancesin urbanregionswere willy-nilly forced (no matterwhat their composition) to adopt a much more competitive posture. Managerialism,so characteristicof urbangovernancein the I96os, was replacedby entrepreneurialism as the main motif of urban action.14 The rise of the "entrepreneurial city" meant increasedinter-urbancompetition acrossa numberof dimensions. I have elsewhere arguedthat the competition can best be brokendown into four differentforms: (a) competition for position in the internationaldivisionof labour; (b) competition for position as centers of consumption; (c) competition for control and command functions (financialand administrativepowers in particular);and (d) competition for governmentalredistributions(which in the United States, as Markusenhas shown,"5focusedheavily these last few years on militaryexpenditures).16 These four options arenot mutuallyexclusive, and the uneven fortunesof urbanregionshave dependedupon the mix and timing of strategiespursuedin relationto globalshifts. It was in part through this heightened inter-urbancompetition that flexible accumu-
inurban lationtooksuchfirmhold.However,theresulthasbeenrapidoscillations Houston ofunevengeographical fortunes andinthepatterning development.17 weresuddenly andDenver,bothboomtownsinthemid-I970s, caughtshortinthe collapseof oil prices after I981; SiliconValley,the high-tech wonder of new
hassuddenly lostitscompetitive inthe I970S, andnewemployment edge; products I3
to the UrbanPoliciesof theNew Right(BeverlyHills: I. Szelenyi, ed., Citiesin Recession:CriticalResponses UrbanandRegionalPlanningin an Age of Austerity and W. P. Goldsmith, Forester, Clavel, 1984); J. Sage, N. R. Hill, D.Judd, and M. Smith, Restructuring S. York: Fainstain, Fainstain, I983); Pergamon, (New theCity ( New York: Longman, I986); andW. Tabb, TheLongDefault(New York: Monthly Review Press, 1982).
I4
in an AdvancedEconomy(Washington,D. C.: R. Hanson, ed., RethinkingUrbanPolicy: UrbanDevelpment desGrandesVillesen France National Academy of Sciences, I983) andJ.Bouinot, ed., L"ActionEconomique et a l"Etranger Economica, I987). (Paris:
s5A. Markusen,"Defense Spending: A SuccessfulIndustrialPolicy," International Journalof Urbanand io Research Io5-22. 986): ( pp. Regional I6 Harvey,The Urbanization of Capital(Oxford: BasilBlackwell, I985), chapter8. I7
N. Smith, UnevenDevelopment: Nature,Capital,andtheProduction of Space(Oxford: BasilBlackwell,1984).
David Harvey
whileNew Yorkandthe once-jadedeconomiesof New Englandarerebounding
inthe i98osonthebasisofexpanding command andcontrolfunctions vigorously andevennew-found effectshave manufacturing strength.Twoothermoregeneral thenfollowed. hasopenedspaceswithinwhichthenewandmore First,inter-urban competition flexiblelabour couldbemoreeasilyimplanted andhasopenedtheway processes to muchmoreflexiblecurrents ofgeographical mobilitythanwasthecasebefore forafavorable "business forexample,haspushedurban I973. Concern climate," to allkindsofmeasures to publicinvestments) (fromwage-disciplining governments inorderto attracteconomic butintheprocessthisconcernhas development, thecostof changeof locationto theenterprise. lessened Muchofthevaunted oftodayamounts to a subsidy foraffluent consumers, "public-private partnership" andpowerful command functions to stayintownattheexpenseof corporations, localcollective fortheworkingclassandtheimpoverished. Second, consumption urbangovernments havebeenforcedintoinnovation andinvestment to maketheir citiesmoreattractive asconsumer andcultural centers.Suchinnovations andinvestments(convention down-townconsumer centers,sportsstadia,disney-worlds, elsewhere.Inter-urban thus etc.)havequicklybeenimitated paradises, competition hasgenerated urbaninnovations inlife-styles, cultural forms, leap-frogging even and and consumer based all of which have innovation, political products, thetransition to flexibleaccumulation. Andherein,I shallargue, activelypromoted to post-modernity inurbanculture. liespartof thesecretofthepassage Thisconnection canbeseenintheradical oftheinterior reorganization spacesofthe U. S. cityundertheimpulsions ofinter-urban I shall contemporary competition. theaccount,however,withsomegeneral remarks ontheclasscontentof preface inurbansettings. spatial practices inUrbanSettings TheClassContentof Spatial Practices inanysocietyabound in subtleties andcomplexities. Sincetheyare Spatial practices notinnocentwithrespectto theaccumulation ofcapitalandthereproduction of classrelations undercapitalism, arenaforsocialconflictand theyarea permanent andproduce spacepossessavital struggle.Thosewhohavethepowerto command forthereproduction andenhancement oftheirownpower.Any instrumentality societymust,therefore, projectto transform graspthecomplexnettleofthetransof spatial formation practices. I shalltryto capturesomeofthecomplexity construction of a"grid" of through identi(Tablei). DownthelefthandsideI rangethreedimensions spatial practices I8 fiedin Lefebvre"s T7heProduction of Space:
18H. Lefebvre,La Production del'Espace in Englishas7heProduction (Paris:Anthropos,I974),forthcoming ofSpace(Oxford:BasilBlackwell).
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A"Grid" of SpatialPractices Accessibility& Distanciation
& Appropriation Use of Space
Domination& Controlof Space
Flowsof goods,money, people,labourpower, information, etc.; transport&communicationssystems;market andurbanhierarchies; agglomeration
Urbanbuiltenvironments, socialspaces of the city &other'turf' social designations; networksof communication&mutualaid
Privatepropertyin land, state,&administrative divisionsof space;
-oo
Materialspatialpractices (experience)
of space Representations (perception)
and Personalspace;mental Social,psychological measures of physical mapsof occupiedspace; distance;mapmaking; spatialhierarchies; theoriesof the'frictionof symbolicrepresentation distance'(principleof of spaces leasteffort,socialphysics, rangeof a good,central place&otherforms of locationtheory)
Spacesof representation "Mediais the message" new modesof spatial (imagination) transaction (radio, t.v.,film,photography, painting,etc.);diffusion of "taste"
Popularspectaclesstreetdemonstrations, riots;placesof popular spectacle(streets,squares, markets); iconography andgraffiti
exclusive communities
&neighborhoods; exclusionary zoning &otherformsof socialcontrol(policing andsurveillance)
Forbidden spaces; "territorial imperatives;" community; regional
culture;nationalism; hierarchies geopolitics;
Organizedspectacles; & monumentality constructed spacesof ritual;symbolicbarriers andsignalsof symbolic capital
Material spatialpractices referto thephysicalandmaterial thatoccurinand flows,transfers,andinter-actions acrossspacein sucha wayasto assureproduction andsocialreproduction. of space Representations all of codesandknowledge,thatallowsuch encompass the signsandsignifications, be material to about and no matterwhetherin termsof talked understood, practices sense or the sometimes of the academic common through everyday arcanejargon thatdealwith spatialpractices(engineering, architecture, disciplines geography, planning,socialecology,andthe like). Spacesof representation constructs suchassymbolic aresocialinventions(codes,signs,andevenmaterial and the museums built environments, like)thatseekto paintings, spaces,particular forspatialpractices. generatenew meaningsorpossibilities
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Lefebvrecharacterizes thesethreedimensionsasthe experienced, andthe theperceived, He regardsthe dialecticalrelationsbetweenthemasthe fulcrumof a imagined.
tensionthrough dramatic whichthehistoryof spatial canberead.The practices
DavidHarvey
relations A "vulgar Marxist" are,however,problematic. positionwouldpresumably holdthatmaterial boththerepresentations of practices directlydetermine spatial Marxdidnot holdsucha view.'9He depicts spaceandthe spacesof representation.
asamaterial forceintheGrundrisse andwritesinajustly productive knowledge in Capital: famouspassage "Whatdistinguishes theworstof architects fromthebest ofbeesisthis,thatthearchitect inimagination raiseshisstructure beforeheerectsit inreality."2 Thespacesofrepresentation, havethepotential notonlyto therefore, affectrepresentation of spacebutalsoto actasamaterial forcewith productive practices. respectto spatial Butto arguethattherelations betweentheexperienced, theperceived, andthe aredialectically, ratherthancausally, leavesthingsmuchtoo determined imagined a clarification. Heexplains how"amatrixofperceptions, provides vague.Bordieu andactions" canatoneandthesametimebeputto workflexiblyto appreciations, diversified "achieve whileatthesametimebeing"inthelast tasks," infinitely instance" famousphrase)engendered outofthematerial of (Engels's experience structures" andtherefore "outoftheeconomic basisofthesocial "objective inquestion."2" Bordieu ofobjective formation acceptsthe"well-founded primacy thattheobjective or relations" without,however,makingthefalseinference structures arethemselves endowedwithapowerof autonomous development of human independent agency. Themeditating linkisprovided installed by theconceptof "habitus"-a "durably which"produces of regulated thatin improvisations" practices" principle generative conditions whichproduced theobjective thegenerative turntendto reproduce ofhabitus inthefirstplace.Thecircular causation is (evencumulative?) principle conclusion obvious.Bordieu's ofthe is, however,averystriking depiction to thepowerof theimagined overtheexperienced: constraints isanendless thehabitus toengender Because capacity products-thoughts, actions-whose limitsaresetbythehistorically and perceptions, expressions, conditions of its situated the and conditional production, conditioning socially ofunpredictable is asremotefroma creation freedom it secures noveltyasit is of the initialconditionings.22 froma simplemechanicalreproduction
I acceptthattheorization useofit. andwilllatermakeconsiderable Across the top of the grid (Table i) I list three other aspects to spatialpracticedrawn from more conventionalunderstandings: Accessibilityanddistanciation speakto the role of the "frictionof distance"in human
affairs.Distanceis botha barrierto anda defenseagainsthumaninteraction.It imposes transactioncosts upon any system of productionand reproduction (particularlythose basedon any elaboratesocialdivisionof labour,trade, and social
I9 K. Marx, Grundrisse (Harmondsworth:Penguin, I973). 20 Marx, Capital,volune I (New York: InternationalPublishers,I967). 21
P. Bourdieu,Outlineof a Theoryof Practice(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, I977).
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of reproductive differentiation is simplyameasure ofthe functions).Distanciation to accommodate social degreeto whichthefrictionof spacehasbeenovercome interaction.23 Theappropriation thewayinwhichspaceisusedandoccupied examines ofspace by and institutionalized classes,orothersocialgroupings. individuals, Systemitized the entail of founded formsof social appropriation may production territorially solidarity. Ihedomination reflectshowindividuals orpowerful the ofspace groupsdominate andproduction of spacesoasto exercisea greater organization degreeofcontrol eitheroverthefrictionofdistance oroverthemanner inwhichspaceis appropriated orothers. bythemselves Thesethreedimensions to spatial arenotindependent ofeachother.The practice frictionof distance isimplicitinanyunderstanding of thedomination and of space,whilethepersistent of a spacebya particular appropriation appropriation to adefacto group(saythegangthathangsoutonthestreetcorner)amounts domination of thatspace.Furthermore, theattemptto dominate asit space,insofar reductions in thefrictionofdistance(capitalism's "annihilation of space requires time"forexample)altersdistanciation. through Thisgridof spatial tellsusnothingimportant initself.Spatial practices practices derivetheirefficacyin sociallifeonlythrough thestructure of socialrelations within whichtheycomeintoplay.Underthesocialrelations ofcapitalism, spatial practices becomeimbuedwithclassmeanings. Toputit thiswayisnot,however,to argue thatspatial arederivative of capitalism. Thesespatial takeon practices practices andthesemeanings areputintomotionandspacesareusedina specificmeanings When particular waythroughtheagencyof class,gender,orothersocialpractices.24 socialrelations andimperatives placedinthecontextofcapitalist (theaccumulation ofcapital),thegridcanhelpusunravel someofthecomplexity thatprevails inthe fieldofcontemporary spatial practices. in settingupthegridwasnot,however,to setabouta systematic Mypurpose ofthepositions withinit, although suchanexamination wouldbeof exploration interest(andI havepennedinafewcontroversial considerable within positionings thegridforpurposes ofillustration). isto findawayto characterize the Mypurpose radical shiftsintheclasscontentandthenatureof spatial thathave practices 22 Ibid., p. 95. 259
23 A. Giddens, Ihe Constitutionof Society (Oxford: Polity Press, I984), p. 258-9. 24 The gender,racial,ethnic, and religiouscontents of spatialpracticesalsoneed to be consideredin any full
accountof community formationandthe productionof socialspacesin urbansettings.A beginninghas been madeon the genderaspectin works by C. Stimson,ed., WomenandtheCity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, I981); D. Rose, "RethinkingGentrification;Beyond the Uneven Development of Marx's Urban Theory"in SocietyandSpaceII (1984): p. 47-74;ShlayA. and Di Gregorio,D. "SameCity, Different Worlds:ExaminingGenderand Work-baseDifferencesin Perceptionof Neighborhood , no. 2I (I985): p. 6686; andSmith, N., "OfYuppies and Desirability",in UrbanAffairsQuarterly Housing; Gentrification,SocialRestructuring,andthe Urban Dream," in SocietyandSpace,vol. V (2, 1987): p. I5I-I72.
David Harvey
the interiorspaceof occurredoverthe lasttwo decades.The pressureto reorganize underthe conditionsof flexible the city,forexample,hasbeenconsiderable themes accumulation.The vitalityof the centralcity corehasbeenre-emphasised, suchasthe qualityof urbanliving(gentrification, consumptionpalaces,and entertainment)andenhancedsocialcontroloverbothpublicand sophisticated privatespaceswithinthe city,havebeenof widespreadsignificance.But the urban andunemployment, processhasalsohadto copewith increasingimpoverishment underconditionswherethe socialwagecouldnot be increased.Here,too, spatial practiceshaveshiftedin parttowardsanincreasingcontrolthrougha returnto ghettoization(a practicethatwasnever,of course,severelydented,let alone overcome)andthe riseof new spaceswherethe homelesswander,the mentalpatientshangout, andthe impoverished anddischarged schizophrenics practicebothnew andwell-triedsurvivalstrategies.How, then, arewe to make of classpolarities? Arethere senseof allthisshiftingandconflict-pronespatialization ways, futhermore,to addressthe questionof spatialempowermentof the to be foundin all populationsincreasingly segregated,oppressed,andimpoverished urbanareas? ClassPracticesandthe Constructionof Community Differentclassesconstructtheirsenseof territoryandcommunityin radically
Thiselemental factisoftenoverlooked different who ways.25 bythosetheorists apriorithatthereis someideal-typical anduniversal presume tendencyforallhuman ahumancommunity of a roughlysimilar sort,nomatterwhat beingsto construct A studyofclassagencywithrespectto oreconomic circumstances. thepolitical underconditions ofcontemporary construction urbanization illustrates community canhaveradically howessentially different classcontents. similar spatial practices Letuslookmoreclosely,forexample,attheclasspractices which through inurbansettings.Weencounter aretypicallyconstructed communities hereallthe ofperceptions, andadaptability andactionsthatBordieu flexibility appreciations, insistsupon.Butthecontrast betweencommunity construction inthelow-income strataofthepopulation andintheaffluent anddisempowered andempowered strata isindeedstriking. Low-income andhence usuallylackingthemeansto overcome populations, forthemostparttrapped command in space.Sinceownerspace,findthemselves themain (suchashousing)is restricted, shipofevenbasicmeansofreproduction continuous values wayto dominate spaceisthrough appropriation. Exchange ofusevaluesfordailysurvival is centralto socialaction. arescarce,andsothepursuit Thismeansfrequentmaterialandinterpersonal transactions andtheformation ofverysmallscalecommunities. Withinthecommunity space,usevaluesget shared throughsomemixofmutualaidandmutualpredation, creating tightbut socialbonding inbothprivateandpublic oftenhighlyconflictual interpersonal to placeand"turf"andto anexact spaces.Theresultisanoftenintenseattachment 25 I am here deeply indebtedto the researchwork of PhillipSchmandt.
260
it isonlythroughactiveappropriation because senseof boundaries thatcontrol overspaceisassured. Successful controlpresumes apowerto excludeunwanted elements.Fine-tuned status discriminations are and calledintoplay ethnic,religious, racial, frequently construction. withinsuchaprocessof community Furthermore, political of a takes a expressive cultureofpolitical specialform,generally organization of political channels resistance andhostilityto normal Thestateis incorporation. asanagencyof repressive control(inpolice,education, etc.) largelyexperienced ratherthanasanagencythatcanbecontrolled by andbringbenefitsto them.26 sortare,asCrenson of aparticipatory Political observes,27 weakly organizations to the asirrelevant sortunderstood andpoliticsofthebourgeois developed, fordailysurvival. thestate of theusevaluesnecessary Nevertheless, procuring of thereserve sincetheyarevitalpreserves in suchcommunities intervenes armyof thatallsortsofcontagious socialills theunemployed-spacesof suchdeprivation canflourish, andspacesthatappear to tuberculosis) (fromprostitution dangerous of the of social outside normal because lie they processes incorporation. precisely of affluent thiswiththepractices Contrast space groups,whocancommand of of and basic means (houses,cars, mobility ownership reproduction throughspatial valueswithwhichto sustain blessedwithabundant life, etc.). Already exchange usevaluesforsurvival. uponcommunity-provided theyareinnowaydependent isthengearedmainlyto thepreservation or of community Theconstruction values.Usevaluesrelateto matters of accessibility, ofexchange enhancement taste, and cultural with the and that aesthetic tone, symbolic capital goes appreciation, built environment. relations a kind of of certain "valued," Interpersonal possession overspacedoesnothaveto atthestreetlevel,andthecommand areunnecessary accessto the beassured Moneyprovides appropriation. throughcontinuous onothergrounds (residential segregation community, makingit lessexclusionary uptheincomescaleone byethnicityandevenracetendsto weakenthefurther field arediffuseandflexible,mainlydependent uponthespatial goes).Boundaries values.Community effectsthatcaneffectindividual ofexternality property effectsthatcaneffectindividual formto takecareofextemality organizations of thecommunity the"tone" valuesandmaintain space.Thestateis seen property andcontrollable, asbasically beneficial securityandhelpingkeep assuring circumstances undesirables out,exceptinunusual (thelocationof "noxious" ofhighways,etc.). theconstruction facilities, ofcommunity andprocesses Distinctive construction-coupled practices spatial outof and cultural withdistinctive practices ideological predispositions-arise ofeconomic andsocioConditions material circumstances. different oppression andstylesof kindsof spatial domination practices quitedifferent generate political thanwilltypicallybefoundunderotherclasscircumstances. formation community
261
26P. Willis, Learningto Labor(Famborough:SaxonHouse, I977). 27
Politics(Cambridge:HarvardUniversity Press, I983). M. Crenson,Neighborhood
David Harvey
ofSymbolic theProduction andthe Informalization, Capital, of theSpectacle Mobilization Flexible accumulation hasdeeplyaffectedclassstructures andpolitical-economic soasto modifytheprocesses ofcommunity while possibilities production, theimportance oftheclasscontentof spatial I willlook re-emphasising practices. brieflyat threeaspectsof thistransformation. andInformalization Impoverishment
The UnitedStateshaveexperiencedanincreasein the sheernumbersof the urban
ofthispovertypopulation hasalsochanged. poorsinceI972. Thecomposition workersthrownon the streetby de-industrialization, and Unemployedblue-collar the floodof displacedpeopleout of depressedruralorregionaleconomiesorfrom of third-world countries,havebeenpiledon top of what Marxcalledthe "hospital" urban the workingclass,left to fendforitselfin the cities. In somecases,particular communitiestiedto a dominantlocalemploymentsourcehavebeenplungedasa wholeintoa conditionof impoverishment by a singleplantclosing.Inother vulnerable households,have instances,particularly groups,suchasfemale-headed beenplungeddeeperintothe mireof poverty,thuscreatingzoneswherephenomena likethe feminizationof povertybecomedominant.Fiscalconstraints,of whichneohasmadea politicalvirtueratherthananeconomicnecessity,at the conservativism sametimehaveundercutthe flow of publicservices,andhencethe life-support mechanisms,forthe massof the unemployedandthe poor. Learningto copeandsurvivein urbansettingson almostno incomeis anartthat takesa whileto learn.The balancebetweencompetition,mutualpredation,and mutualaidhasconsequentlyshiftedwithinlow incomepopulations.The growthof to a diminutionof the powerof some hasled, paradoxically, impoverishment of the morepositivemechanismsto copewith it. But therehasalsobeenoneother sector"in American dramaticresponse:the riseof whatis knownasthe "informal cities,a sectorthatfocusseson illegalpracticessuchasdrug-trafficking, prostitution, andlegalproductionandtradingof services.Mostobserversagreethatthese the same practicesexpandedin scopeandformafterI972.28Furthermore,
theurbanprocessinthe inEuropean wereobserved cities,thusbringing phenomena urban asawholemuchcloserto thethird-world countries advanced capitalist experience.29
variesgreatly, Thenatureandformofinformalization uponthe depending ofthereserve forgoodsandservices,thequalities to findlocalmarkets opportunities armyof labourpower(its skillsandaptitudes),genderrelations(forwomenplaya
of small-scale informal thepresence roleinorganizing economies), veryconspicuous andoversight oftheauthorities skills,andthewillingness (regulatory entrepreneurial 28M.CastellsandA. Portes,"WorldUnderneath:TheOrigins,Dynamics,andEffectsof the Informal Sector ontheComparative (Baltimore:Johns Hopkins StudyoftheInformal Economy,"Conference University). andSubsistence andE.Mingioneeds.,Beyond 29 N. Redclift Gender, Household, (Oxford:Basil Unemployment: Blackwell, I985).
262
co
powerslikethe unions)to toleratepracticesthatareoftenoutsidethe law. Lowincomecommunitiespresent,in the firstplace,a vastreserveof labourpowerunder strongpressurein thesetimesto finda livingof almostanysort. Underconditionsof governmentlaxnessandtradeunionweakness,new kindsof productionof goodsandservicescanarise,sometimesorganizedfromoutsidethe withinthe lowcommunity,butin otherinstancesorganizedby entrepreneurs incomecommunityitself. Homeworkhasbecomemuchmoreprominent,allowing andproductivelabourin women,forexample,to combinethe tasksof child-rearing the samespace,whilesavingentrepreneurs the costsof overhead(plant,lighting, etc.). Sweatshopsandthe informalprovisionof servicesbeganto emergeasvital aspectsof the New YorkandLosAngeleseconomiesin the I970S andby now have becomeimportantthroughoutthe U. S. urbansystem.Thesehavebeenparalleled
commodification of traditional mutualaidsystemswithinlowbyanincreasing incomecommunities. Baby-sitting, laundering, cleaning, fixingup,andoddjobs, whichusedto beswapped moreasfavours,arenowboughtandsold,sometimes on anentrepreneurial basis. Socialrelations withinmanylow-income communities have,asaconsequence, becomemuchmoreentrepreneurial, with allof the consequencesof excessiveand
oftenextraordinary ofwomen)inthelabour exploitation (particularly process.The flowofincomesintosuchcommunities hasincreased, butattheexpenseof traditional mutualaidsystemsandthestronger of socialhierarchies implantation withinthecommunities themselves. Theflowofvalueoutof suchcommunities has alsoincreased Thishasledmanyto lookwithsurprise atthelocal substantially. ofurbandevelopment andto argueforthetoleration, and dynamics acceptance, evenencouragement ofinformalization, thuslendingcredence to theneoconservative thatprivateentrepreneurial argument activityisalwaysthepathto economic of allthepoor growthandsuccess-asif thatcouldsolvetheproblems rather thanthoseofjusta selectfew. Nevertheless, thegrowthofinformalizationandtheemergence ofunregulated urbanspaceswithinwhichsuchpractices aretolerated-isaphenomenon consistent withthenewregimeof thoroughly flexibleaccumulation. TheProduction ofSymbolic Capital Thefreneticpursuit of theconsumption of theaffluent dollars hasledto a much differentiation undertheregimeofflexible stronger emphasis uponproduct 63
accumulation.Producers have,asa consequence,begunto explorethe realmsof Gdifferentiated tastesandaestheticpreferences in waysthatwerenot so necessary undera Fordistregimeof standardised accumulation throughmassproduction.In so a powerfulaspectof capitalaccumulation: the doing,theyhavere-emphasised 30 and of what Bourdieu calls"symboliccapital." Thishas production consumption hadimportantimplications forthe productionandtransformation of the urban in which live. spaces upper-income groups 30 Bourdieu,Outlineof a Theoryof Practice (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, I977),
pp 177-97; idem, Distinction:A SocialCritiqueof theJudgement of Taste(London: Routledgeand KeganPaul, I984).
David Harvey
isdefinedby Bourdieu as"thecollection of luxurygoodsattesting "Symbolic capital" thetasteanddistinction of theowner." Suchcapitalis, ofcourse,a transformed kind ofmoneycapital,but"produces itsproper effectinasmuch, andonlyinasmuch, asit conceals thefactthatit originates in"material" formsofcapitalwhicharealso,inthe lastanalysis, thesourceofitseffects." Thefetishism involvedisobvious,butit ishere to conceal,throughtherealms of cultureandtaste,thereal deliberately deployed basesofeconomic distinctions. Since"themostsuccessful effectsare ideological thosewhichhavenowords,andasknomorethancomplicitous silence,"the of symbolic functions because themechanisms production capitalservesideological whichit contributes "tothereproduction oftheestablished orderandto the through 3 of domination remain hidden." perpetuation Itisinstructive to bringBourdieu's theorizations to bearupontheproduction of communities andtheirbuiltenvironments. Ithasa lotto tellus upper-class aboutthematerial ofgentrification, therecuperation of "history" processes (real, orsimplyre-created aspastiche)andof "community" imagined, (again,real, orsimplypackaged forsalebyproducers), andtheneedforembellishimagined, mentdecoration, andornamentation thatcouldfunctionassomanycodesand of socialdistinction.32 I donotmeanto arguethatsuchphenomena symbols arein anyway new-they havebeena vitalfeatureto capitalisturbanization from
theverybeginning and,ofcourse,bearmorethanafewechoesofdistinctions passedonfromoldersocialorders.Buttheyhavebecomeofmuchgreater significancesinceI972,inpartthrough theirproliferation intolayersofthepopulation thatwerehithertodeniedthem.Flexible accumulation permitsa profitable response to the cultural discontents of the I960s,whichimpliedrejection of standardised accumulation andamassculturethatprovided toofewopportunities to capture economic crisisencouraged the symbolic capital.Tothedegreethatpolitical ofproduct sotherepressed marketdesireto acquire differentiation, exploration of builtenvironments.33 symbolic capitalcouldbecaptured throughtheproduction Andit was,ofcourse,exactlythiskindofdesirethatpost-modemist architecture set outto satisfy."Forthemiddleclasssuburbanite," Venturi etalobserve,"living,not in anantebellummansion,butin a smallerversionlostin a largespace,identitymust
comethroughsymbolic treatment oftheformof thehouse,eitherthroughstyling orthroughavarietyof (forinstance,split-level provided by thedeveloper Colonial) 34 symbolicornamentsappliedthereafterbytheowner." orenhancement Symbolic capitalis, however,opento devaluation through changes in taste. If symboliccapitalcontainsa hiddenpowerof domination,thenpower 31Bourdieu,Outlineof a Theoryof Practice(Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, I977), p. I88. 32 G. Simmel, ThePhilosophy of Money(London: Routledgeand KeganPaul, I978); W. Firey,"Sentiment and Symbolismas EcologicalVariables", AmericanSociological ReviewIO: I45-60 (1945); and M.Jager, "ClassDefinition andthe Aestheticsof Gentrification"in N. Smithand P. Williamseds., TheGentrification of the City (London: Alien andUnwin, I986). 33
N. Smithand M. Lefaivre,"A ClassAnalysisof Gentrification,"inJ. Palenand B. Londoneds., andNeighborhood Revitalization Displacement Gentrification, (Albany: StateUniversity of New YorkPress, 1984).
34 Venturi,Scott-Brown, and Izenour;Las Vegas,p. 154.
intaste.Sincecompetition vulnerable to mutations relations arethemselves between of consumers render tasteinsecure, andthemachinations producers struggles withintheurbanscene.35 a certainsignificance overfashionacquire Thepowerto aswellastheabilityto convertsymbolic intomoneycapital,becomes dominate, inthecultural embedded politicsoftheurbanprocess.Butthatalsoimpliesthat hasanevenmorevitalcultural of spacewithintheurbanprocess domination edge Tothedegreethatdomination to it undera regimeofflexibleaccumulation. ofviolentresponse thepotentiality onthepartofthe ofwhateversortcontains of conflicthasbeenopenedupforexplicit sohere,too,alatentdomain dominated, articulation. TheMobilization of theSpectacle
forsocialpacification andFestivals" wastheancientRomanformula "Bread ofthe restless hasbeenpassedonintocapitalist culturethrough,for plebs.Theformula became example,SecondEmpireParis,wherefestivalandtheurbanspectacle instrumentsof socialcontrolin a societyrivenby classconflict.36 fromcounter-cultural SinceI972, theurbanspectaclehasbeentransformed events, anti-wardemonstrations, streetriots,andthe inner-cityrevolutionsof the I96os. It hasbeencapturedasbotha symbolandaninstrumentof communityunification underbourgeoiscontrolin conditionswhereunemploymentandimpoverishment havebeenon the riseandwhereobjectiveconditionsof classpolarization havebeen increasing.As partof thisprocess,the modernistpenchantformonumentality-the of the permanence,authority,andpowerof the established communication capitalist that order-hasbeenchallengedby an"official" post-modernist style exploresthe of festivalandspectacle,with its senseof the ephemeral,of display,and architecture of transitorybutparticipatory pleasure.The displayof the commodityhasbecomea centralpartof the spectacle,ascrowdsflockto gazeat themandat eachotherin HarborPlace,Boston'sFaneuilHall,and intimateandsecurespaceslikeBaltimore's a hostof enclosedshoppingmallsthathavesprungup alloverAmerica.Evenwhole havebecomecenterpiecesof urbanspectacleanddisplay. builtenvironments ThisphenomenondeservesmoredetailedscrutinythanI cangivehere. It fits, of course,with urbanstrategiesto captureconsumerdollarsto compensatefordeItsundoubtedcommercialsuccessrestsin parton the way in industrialization. whichthe actof buyingconnectsto the pleasureof the spectaclein securedspaces, HarborPlacecombinesallof the safefromviolenceorpoliticalagitation.Baltimore's bourgeoisvirtuesthatBenjaminattributedto the arcadesof nineteenth-century Pariswith the senseof the festivalthatattachedto worldexpositions,"placesof
wouldtakeit further:"thespectacle 37 Debord to thefetishCommodity." pilgrimage ofmoneywherethetotalityof the isthedeveloped moderncomplement 35
See S. Zurkin, LoftLiving:CultureandCapitalin UrbanChange(Baltimore:Johns HopkinsUniversity Press, I982).
36Clark, ThePaintingof ModernLife: Parisin theArt of ManetandhisFollowers(New York: Knopf, I985). 37 W.
A LyricPoetin theEraof High Capitalism (London: NLB, I973), pp Benjamin,CharlesBaudelaire:
I58-65.
David Harvey
asawhole,asa general forwhattheentire worldappears equivalence commodity becomes"thecommon societycanbeandcando."Tothedegreethatthespectacle soit canalsopresentitself gazeandoffalseconsciousness," groundof deceived InBaltimore, andtheurban ofunification."38 as"aninstrument MayorSchaefer of Harbor usedthespectacle behindhim,haveconsciously classalliance ranged and inthatway,asa symbolof thesupposed Placeprecisely unityof aclass-divided andeventsliketheLos sportsactivities city.Professional racially-segregated functioninanotherwise a similar fragmented AngelesOlympicGamesperform urbansociety. to hasthuscomeincreasingly Urbanlife,undera regimeofflexibleaccumulation, no downtowns American of spectacles," accumulation presentitselfasan"immense and senseof power,authority, amonumental exclusively longercommunicate andplay.Itison Instead domination. theyexpresstheideaof spectacle corporate urbanculturethat thatthebreakintothepost-modern, ofthespectacle thisterrain andit isinthe beenfashioned, haspartially flexibleaccumulation hasaccompanied and of classconsciousness contextof suchmediating imagesthattheoppositions "isneveran thespectacle haveto unfold.39 classpractices But,asDebordobserves, andfinallyinplace;it isalwaysanaccountoftheworld imagemountedsecurely tenacious ofdifferent, sometimes withothers,andmeetingtheresistance competing 40 formsof socialpractice." Accumulation UrbanStressUnderFlexible The hashada serious accumulation Flexible impactuponallurbaneconomies. thosethat ofmanyurbangovernments (particularly entrepreneurialism increasing it andthe hastendedto reinforce haveemphasised partnership") "public-private trendsthatwentwithit. Theuseof cultural andpost-modemist neoconservativism hasmeantthatthesocial to capture scarceresources development increasingly benefitsto keeptherich inorderto provide ofthepoorwasneglected consumption Nixon thatPresident intown.Thiswastheswitchindirection andpowerful theurbancrisisoverin I973. Whatthatmeant,ofcourse, whenhedeclared signalled intonewforms. ofurbanstresses wasthetransmutation and withinthecitylikewiseplayedtheirpartinfacilitating Theinternal adaptations hadtobecomemuchmore Poorpopulations flexibleaccumulation. fomenting meansto survive. economic forexample,"informa'l" adopting, entrepreneurial, ofincreasing underconditions forsurvival impoverishment competition Increasing inurbancommunities mutualaidmechanisms erosionoftraditional meantserious withrespect thathadlittlecapacityto dominate spaceandwereoftendisempowered 38G. Debord, Societyof theSpectacle (Detroit: : Black and Red Books, I983). can not resistdrawingattentionto the way in which Barthes(7TePleasureof theText[New York: Hill into philosophicalrespectabilityat the sametime as and Wang, I975]) broughtthe concept ofjouissance the explorationof the city as a theater,as a spectacle,full of play spacesbecamemore prominentin both the theory andpracticeof urbandesign.I alsosuspectthat the appreciationof the urbanfabricas a "text" to be readandinterpretedwith pleasurehad somethingto do with the tax advantagesthat derivedto the realestate industrydeclaringwhole segmentsof the city "historicpreservationdistricts".
391
40Debord, Societyof theSpectacle.
266
Theabilityto dominate ofpolitical to normal spacethrough integration. processes communal andmutually ofappropriation at weakened solidarity supportive patterns theverymomentthatmanyspacesbecamevulnerable to invasion andoccupation ofworkers in byothers.A tensionarosebetweenincreasing unemployment traditional andtheemployment occupations growthtriggered by downtown revivals basedonfinancial services andtheorganization of spectacles. A newand of professional affluent andmanagerial onthe workers,raised relatively generation withmodernism cultural discontents inthe I96os,cameto dominate wholezonesof differentiation inbuiltenvironments, inner-cityurbanspaceseekingproduct quality of life,andcommand of symbolic The of and capital. recuperation"history" became essential to theproducers ofbuilt "community" sellinggimmicks Thustheturnto post-modernist environments. styleswasinstitutionalized. Thereareserious socialandspatialstresses inherent in sucha situation. Tobegin classpolarization with,increasing (symbolized bytheincredible surgeinurban islands of startling andconspicuous povertysurrounding wealth)isinherently andgiventheprocesses ofcommunity construction available to thepoor, dangerous, it alsosetsthestageforincreasing orsimply"turf'tensions. racial,ethnic,religious, different fordefining classmechanisms thespatiality ofcommunity Fundamentally comeintoconflict,thussparking warfare overwhoappropriates and running guerilla controls various notofthe spacesofthecity.Thethreatofurbanviolence,although massivesortexperienced inthe I96os,loomslarge.Thebreakdown of theprocesses thatallowthepoorto construct ofmutualaidisequally anysortofcommunity sinceit entailsanincrease inindividual andallof the anomie,alienation, dangerous thatderivetherefrom. Thefewwho"make it"through informal sector antagonisms forthemultitude whowon't.At theotherendof the activitycannotcompensate socialscale,thesearchforsymbolic a cultural dimension to capitalintroduces economic tensions.Thelatterfeedinter-class andpromptstate hostilities political thatfurther interventions low-income alienate (I amthinking,for populations ingentrifying youthsgetharassed example,of thewaystreet-corner Themobilization hasitsunifyingeffects,butit isa of thespectacle neighborhoods). toolforunification, andto thedegreethatit forcesthe fragileanduncertain to become"aconsumer it contains consumer ofillusions" itsownspecificalienations. areonething,butriotsandrevolutions andfestivals Controlled canalso spectacles of thepeople." become"festivals Butthereisafurther contradiction. inter-urban Heightened competition produces investments that wasteful contribute rather than the to, ameliorate, oversocially 267
accumulationproblemthat lay behind the transitionto flexible accumulationin the firstplace.41Put simply,how many successfulconvention centers, sportsstadia, disney worlds, and harborplacescan there be? Successis often short-livedor renderedmoot by competing or alternativeinnovationsarisingelsewhere. Over-
investmentin everythingfromshoppingmallsto culturalfacilitiesmakesthe values embeddedin urbanspacehighlyvulnerableto devaluation.Down-townrevivals 41 Harvey and Scott, "HumanGeography".
David Harvey
builtuponburgeoning infinancial andrealestateservices wherepeople employment infinancial dailyprocessloansandrealestatedealsforotherpeopleemployed services andrealestate,dependuponahugeexpansion ofpersonal, and corporate, debts.Ifthatturnssour,theeffectswillbefarmoredevastating than governmental of Pruitt-Igoe thedynamiting evercouldsymbolize. Therashofbankfailures in andevenCalifornia to overTexas,Colorado, (manyofthemattributable inrealestate)suggests thattherehasbeenserious investment in over-investment urbanre-development. in short,is associated withahighlyfragilepatterning Flexible of accumulation, aswellaswithincreasing urbaninvestment, socialandspatial ofurban polarization classantagonisms. Political Responses ordertendsto produce," established Bordieu ofits writes,"thenaturalization "Every ownarbitrariness" the"mostimportant andbestconcealed" mechanism forsodoing is"thedialectic oftheobjective chancesandtheagent'saspirations, outofwhich arisesthe senseof limits,commonlycalledthe senseof reality" whichis "thebasisof
themostineradicable adherence to theestablished order." and Knowledge (perceived anintegral thereby"becomes partofthepowerof societyto reproduce imagined) itself."The"symbolic ofconstruction of reality-in powerto imposetheprinciples 42 socialreality-isamajordimension ofpolitical particular, power." Thisisakeyinsight.Ithelpsexplainhoweventhemostcritical theoristcanso "adherence to theestablished Itexplains order." Tafuri's easilyendupreproducing conclusion andmodernity in architecture) of (basedonthehistoryof avant-gardism theimpossibility of anyradical transformation ofcultureandtherefore ofanyradical andtransforming inadvance architectural of anyradical in transformation practice socialrelations.43 Thisinsightcompelsscepticism towards thosewhohaverecently embraced radical or some otheraspectof individualism (or post-modernism asa radical andliberating breakwiththepast.Thereis contemporary practice) isnothingmorethanthecultural strongevidencethatpost-modernity clothingof flexibleaccumulation. "Creative destruction" -that centerpiece of capitalist isto therefore, modernity-isjustascentralindailylifeasit everwas.Thedifficulty, finda political to theinvariant andimmutable truthsofcapitalism ingeneral response to theparticular formsof appearance whileresponding thatcapitalism nowexhibits underconditions offlexibleaccumulation. Fromthatstandpoint, letme therefore, exploresomemodestproposals. theinterstices ofpresentprocesses forpointsof resistance Consider, first,exploring andempowerment.Decentralization anddeconcentration takentogetherwith the culturalconcernwith qualitiesof placeandspace,create,a politicalclimatein which the politicsof community,place,andregioncanunfoldin new ways, at the very momentwhen the culturalcontinuityof allplacesis seriouslythreatenedby flexible 42Bourdieu,Outlineof a Theoryof Practice(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, I977), p. I64. andUtopia(Cambridge,Mass.: MIT Press, I976). 43 M. Tafuri,Architecture
268
aregional advocates Itisoutof thatsortoftensionthatFrampton accumulation. andRossi forcesofglobalcapitalism,44 to thehomogenizing of resistance architecture ofneighbourhood tradition and of thecontinuity anarchitecture expressive pursues thesesofpost-modernity Thecultural collective are,evidently, opento memory.4s ofthepoorand inthecauseofgreater radical empowerment interpretation to the"creative destruction" with Butthatis smallbeercompared underprivileged. whichflexibleaccumulation typicallyscarsthefabricofthecity. alsoopensupnewpathsof socialchange.Spatial accumulation Flexible dispersal in to lure new activities to of meansmuchgreater equality opportunity geographical withintheurbanhierarchy townsintheremotest eventhesmallest region.Position andlargecitieslosetheirinherent becomeslesssignificant, political-economic power to dominate.Smalltownsthathavemanagedto lurein new activitieshaveoften
blowhard Butthechillwindsofcompetition theirpositionremarkably. improved Asmany evenrecentlyacquired. heretoo. It proveshardto hangonto activities hasalsoundermined markets citiesloseasgainby this.Thefermentinlabour formigration, unionpowersandopenedupopportunities traditional employment, under oncedeniedthem(although forlayersinthepopulation andself-employment work circumstances muchmorecompetitive leadingto lowwagesanddeteriorated Flexible andghettoized forwomen,newmigrants, conditions minorities). formsof labour of cooperative organization opensupthepossibility production and thisargument ofworkercontrol.PioreandSabelemphasize undera modicum whentotallynewandmuch seethisasa decisivemomentinthehistoryof capitalism Thisstyleof canbeimplanted.46 formsofindustrial moredemocratic organization sector" of "informal canalsoarisethroughthesocialconsolidation organization endeavours. andworker-controlled ascooperative activities control in short,makeworkerandcommunity offlexibleaccumulation, Conditions ofpolitical Theemphasis to capitalism. asafeasible alternative ideologyon appear thus a"feasible," decentralized hasshiftedtowards thelefttherefore socialism, thanfrom andanarchism fromsocialdemocracy muchmoreinspiration drawing attackand withthevigorous external Thisshiftcorresponds Marxism. traditional inthesocialist countries.47 mechanisms of centralized internal planning critique onthelefthaveevolvedinmuchthesamedirection. Political Municipal practices United in the control and in Britain,economic socialism democracy community the in WestGermany illustrate mobilization States,andcommunity by the"Greens" trend.Thereisplainlymuchthatcanbedone,atbothlocalandregional levels, 269
44Frampton,"CriticalRegionalism." Press, I984).Rossi,it is interestingto note, baseshis of several on ideas architectural of geographers,notablyVidalde la Blanche,regardingthe practice theory for the as of continuity of"genres de vie"and sites of collective importance neighbourhoods settings the chose Rossi From wrong geographerbecauseVidalwas notoriouslyreluctant, my standpoint, memory. de l"Est, to explorethe at leastuntil the very end of his life andhis seminalbut much neglectedGeographie socialrelations. under and of social transformations capitalist landscapes wrought physical dynamic
andtheCity (Cambridge:MIT 45 A. Rossi,Architecture
46M. PioreandC. Sabel,TheSecondIndustrialDivide(New York: BasicBooks, I984). 47Forexample see A. Nove, TheEconomics of FeasibleSocialism(London: Allen and Unwin, I983). David Harvey
andreligious to defendandempowerlocalinterests.Community organizations otherwise the and closure, support plantbuy-outs,fightplant activelysupport low-income oftraditional, mutualaidmechanisms commmunity solidarity. thethrustforgreater to support canalsobepersuaded Institutions empowerment stateapparatus canfind them.A sympathetic ofthepopulations thatsurround and (inserviceprovision, housingprovision, cooperatives waysto support of skills theformation canalsofindwaysto encourage andperhaps production) canbepressured into institutions thetappingof localtalent.Financial through andneighbourhood reinvestment, endeavours, cooperative community supporting inapolitical cause. canbeorganized Evenspectacles corporations. development ofneighbourhood willpreserve cantryto ensurethatthetransformations Planners rather thandestroycollective factorybeturned memory.Farbetterthatadeserted centerwherethecollective intoacommunity memoryofthosewholivedand ratherthanthatit beturnedintoboutiques andcondos workedthereispreserved, ofonepeople's thatpermittheappropriation historybyanother. havetheeffectof Boththetheoryandthepractices Butthereareacutedangers. to regard Itisinvidious andreifications. thefragmentations places, reinforcing inthemselves" ata time communities, cities,regions,orevennationsas"things isgreater thanever.Tofollowthatlineof of capitalism whentheglobalflexibility inaggregate ratherthandecreasingly, vulnerable to the is to beincreasingly, thinking Itisjustasgeographically centralized powerof flexibleaccumulation. extraordinary ofa globalprocessasit isto ignorethe andnaiveto ignorethequalities unprincipled fashioned ofplaceandcommunity. Practices distinctive onlyinthelatter qualities andsubmission ratherthanof activeresistance termsdefineapoliticsofadaptation transformation. andof socialist hasto beginwith the realities Yeta globalstrategyof resistanceandtransformation
isto discover a centralized Theproblem ofplaceandcommunity. politicsthat whileremaining matchestheincreasingly centralized powerofflexibleaccumulation in WestGermany of localresistances. The"Greens" and faithfulto thegrass-roots to betakingupsuchquestions. intheUnitedStatesappear theRainbow Coalition withamoretraditional, is to mergethesefreshly-minted Thedifficulty ideologies to aprevious regimeofaccumulation politicsshapedinresponse oppositional orpostradical individualism, neo-conservativism, (without,however,embracing Thereisplentyof scopehereforprogressive assignsof liberation). modernism andnational levelsto dothehardpractical andintellectual forcesatlocal,regional, forceoutof themaelstrom of social amore-unified workof creating oppositional hasunleashed. changethatflexibleaccumulation Whatofthepolitics Thisismainlyto speak,however,of thepoliticsofresistance. Whilecapitalism is alwaysina stateofpreof somemoreradical transformations as onanyone's it is scarcely socialism, agendathesedaysto thinkaboutsomething a clueasto why: to socialism. Bordieu, perhaps, provides daringasthetransition
270
Thecritique whichbringstheundiscussed intodiscussion, theunformulated intoformulation, hasasthecondition ofitspossibility objective theimmediate fitbetweensubjective structures crisis,whichinbreaking andtheobjective self-evidence structures, destroys practically.48 Onlyunderconditionsof crisisdo we havethe powerto thinkradicallynew "thenaturalization of our thoughtsbecauseit thenbecomesimpossibleto reproduce own arbitrariness." All majorsocialrevolutionshavebeenwroughtin the midstof breakdownin the bourgeoisabilityto govern. Thereareabundantcracksin the shakyedificeof moderncapitalism,not a few of themgeneratedby the stressesinherentin flexibleaccumulation.The world's financialsystem-thecentralpowerin the presentregimeof accumulation-is in turmoilandweigheddownwith anexcessof debtthatputssuchhugeclaimson futurelabourthatit is hardto seeanyway to workout of it exceptthroughmassive defaults,rampantinflation,orrepressivedeflation.The insecurityandpowerof creativedestructionunleashedby flexibleaccumulation takesa terribletoll, oftenon manysegmentsof a population,thusgeneratingacutegeopoliticalrivalries.These couldeasilyspinout of control(asthey didin the 1930s)andbreakup the Westasa coherentpolitical-economic unit (protectionistandfinancial"wars" havebeenpart of ourdailydietof newsforsometimenow). Thoughcrisisprone,however,the
howlifewouldbeif it capitalist systemisnotincrisis,andfewofuscareto consider were.Indeed,thesystemis soshakythatevento talkaboutitsshakiness is seenas ways. rockingit inunseemly Thisbringsmeto mysecondmajorpoint.Objective crisismaybeanecessary, but nevera sufficient, condition formajorsocialtransformations. Thelatterdepend forcecapable of stepping intothevacuumof power upontheriseof somepolitical anddoingsomething withit. Thenatureofthatpolitical forcedoes trulycreative indeedmakea difference thetransition to barbarism in, to useMarx'sownpolarities, orsocialism. Ifthepresently areto haveavoiceinthat,theymust disempowered firstpossess"thematerial andsymbolic meansof rejecting thedefinition of thereal thatis imposedon them. 49 As Willisshows,however,the disempowered evolve
theirownmeansof symbolic thatinmanyrespects representation represent theirsocialworldmoreaccurately thanthatwhicheducators wouldimposeupon andoppositional them.5? withtheirdistinctive subcultures, "Drop-out" inner-city areaswidespread andvibrant astheyhaveeverbeen.Butthatlanguage, languages, if onlybecauseit is the languageof thosetrappedin space,is adaptiveratherthan transformative with respectto globalprocessesthatprecludeempowermentforthe massofthepopulation.
271
Critical Tobeginwith,all theoryherehasa role.Butonlyif it, too,is self-critical. critical asthepractice ofa groupof "organic intellectuals" theoryemerges (touse Gramsci's therefore in phrase)anditsqualities dependupontheclassandterritory 48 Bourdieu, Outline, p. I68.
49Ibid., p. I69. 50
Willis, Learningto Labor(Famborough:SaxonHouse, I977).
David Harvey
whichthepractitioners havetheirbeing.Academics andprofessionals arenot hascertainqualities thatdifferentiate it from exempt.Ourcritical theorytherefore thecritical inworking-class cultural andpolitical True theoryexpressed practices. for the mustbewonby struggle frombelow empowerment presently disempowered andnotgivenoutof largesse fromabove.Themodesof classandunder-class to flexibleaccumulation therefore mustbetakenseriously. Theproblem, opposition onallsides,is to findpractices thatdefinealanguage ofclassandterritorial alliances fromwhichmoreglobaloppositional to flexibleaccumulation canarise. strategies Eventhatkindof critical theorycannotcontaintheanswers.Butit canatleastpose andin sodoingrevealsomething thequestions ofthematerial withwhich realities hasto cope.Thatis, to besure,a smallcontribution. Butit isoutof anytransition of suchsmallcontributions theassemblage thatmeaningful transformations mustbe ofthecurrent ofthe appraisal wrought.A critical regimeofflexibleaccumulation, cultural ofpost-modemity, andofthere-shaping ofphysical andsocial practices ontheideologies urbanization, spacethrough togetherwithreflection through whichwe understand suchprocesses, as one but small appears necessary preparatory towards the reconstitution of a movement of to a step globalopposition plainlysick andtroubled capitalist hegemony.
272
