Critical Iterations

Kenzer continuedfrom previous page the point of nonexistence in most countries around the world. Clearly this has been happening here in the US, where, no matter how much the average American sinks deeper into debt by purchasing an ever-greater litany of must-have goodies and socalled "necessary" goods—purchases that a growing number now argue are made for no other purpose than to placate themselves (psychologically), as their ability to enjoy "life" (the fervor realized through capital accumulation) is rapidly being replaced by their ability to buy (or, more frequently, leverage) more and more material items—their true buying power relative to the (ultra) rich has dwindled each and every year for many decades. Expanding income inequality in the US is as apparent, if not more so, today as it has ever been in the past; and, as I write this, the broadly based housing market collapse and the consequent, widely predicted, nationwide foreclosure crisis stand only to split open the gulfbetween the "haves" and the "have-nots" wider still. And yet, as much as I concur with this age-old argument, and as much as I agree with the geographical and geopolitical implications and ramifications detailed by Harvey, I am beginning to find the entire neo-Marxist analysis worn and tired, lacking much that is.new. Indeed, this same theoretical perspective was au courant when I was a graduate student back in the 1970s, and, to be quite blunt about it, little has changed. Harvey's ideas have certainly grown and changed—and I believe it is not a stretch to call him one of the brightest, if not the brightest, minds in academic geography today. He most assuredly has a broad knowledge of both factual and theoretical insights to bolster his narrative, but, in all sincerity, I fail to see this analysis taking geography (or the wider social sciences) to any higher level of inquiry than it did several decades ago. What I am saying, at bottom, is this: The ongoing, neo-Marxist critique of capitalism, even with the addition of a broadly focused geographical element/perspective, tells us little more than earlier generations were already able to discern; simply more historical and place-bound facts are available today to reinforce that original critique. What is "new" here is Harvey's breadth of knowledge—both historical and geographical knowledge—enabling himtoreinforce anoldcritique and thereby drive the point home beyond question. In short, it augments a very old story, but it does so, refreshingly, without the rhetoric, dogma, andjargon so prevalent in most neo-Marxian writing throughout much of the twentieth century. In the final analysis, however, I sense that this book will merely preach to the choir. Those scholars who have been saying the same thing about humankind since— and, in some instances, even before—Karl Marx put the central idea into words (i.e., that for capitalism to thrive it must constantly seek out, and indeed relies upon, a new person, a new group, a new place, a new region, or, today, an entire planet to exploit) will find further grist here because this fact above all others is essential to its survival. Capitalism (1) is continually in search of new "converts" (markets) to nourish the capitalist endeavor; (2) is forever doing battle with/seeking out cheaper and cheaper labor sources in noncapitalistic peoples/societies/places; and (3) is thereby inherently self-defeating over the long run because, at some point, unless we move on to some other planet, we will either run out of people and places to exploit and/or everyone will have converted to the capitalist enterprise, and, at that moment in time, there will be, by definition, (no)thing and no group or place left to exploit. Until we reach that watershed moment, economic development will continue to be uneven, and therefore, distinctgeographical patterns will emerge and then modify themselves again and again over time and across space. And while Harvey gives us a great deal to ponderhere and a rich framework within which we can better comprehend these processes—in particular the intriguing "space-time compression" portrayal he most fully articulated in The Condition of Postmodernity (1990), where we find ourselves...