"That combination of brilliance and generosity, mischief and courage"

October 1, 2012 7:03 PM

It has been a bad week for contemporary Marxist scholarship [earlier this morning]. This past Saturday, the geography world lost Neil Smith, versatile theorist, advocate for social justice, LA Times Book Award winner, and founder of the Center for Place, Culture and Politics at CUNY. Best known for his theory of the uneven spatial development of capitalism and for changing the way we think about gentrification, his numerous contributions to the field of critical human geography include a sustained critique of neoliberalism, a history of American empire, and the declaration that there's no such thing as a natural disaster. Here's Neil on Occupy Wall Street, urban securitization, deconstructing USA Today in 1984, and singing the Socialist ABCs.
posted by avocet (12 comments total)

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posted by bswinburn at 7:21 PM on October 1, 2012

Thanks for the link-packed obit.

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posted by tarheelcoxn at 7:35 PM on October 1, 2012

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posted by clockzero at 7:38 PM on October 1, 2012

Lenin and Mao killed traditional Marxism long ago by basing their revolutions on the pesantry. Nor is our service and innovation economy particularly appropriate to Marxist economics, with its emphasis on the factory's ability to leverage economies of scale.

There needs to be a new socialism that does not rely on a defective economics that did not even accurately describe the mid-nineteenth century. Marx focused on the idea that socialism could outproduce capitalism. Experience has shown otherwise. Instead, the new socialist thinking ought to focus on sectors of the economy where capitalist economics fails and emphasize the costs of that system.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:08 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

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posted by Ironmouth at 8:09 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh, man, what a loss. We read his 'No Such Thing As A Natural Disaster' in my geography senior seminar and it's been in the forefront of my mind when studying major disasters since. On a less serious level, that article totally was my introduction to David Brooks' jackassery. Stay in your lane, David Brooks.

We also read his article about the geography dept being eliminated at Harvard [PDF] - incredibly prescient given the lack of emphasis on geography education today.

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posted by troika at 8:10 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

So what's up with all the socialist (communist or anarchist) geographers, it's kind of a thing.

Sadly, I never heard of either of these two guys, but I'm sure the world is missing out on some fine contributions with their passing...

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posted by symbioid at 8:36 PM on October 1, 2012

Great writer and thinker. A sad loss.

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posted by Catchfire at 9:08 PM on October 1, 2012

Nor is our service and innovation economy particularly appropriate to Marxist economics, with its emphasis on the factory's ability to leverage economies of scale.

Probably seems pretty germane to someone on the Foxconn factory floor, or in an Indian car factory.

In what sense is today's global economy more an "innovation" or "service" economy than any other since capitalism's debut?
posted by phrontist at 9:55 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by stagewhisper at 10:05 PM on October 1, 2012

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posted by Mister Bijou at 3:43 AM on October 2, 2012

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The world needs more of his stripe.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:47 AM on October 2, 2012