Regarding The Limits to Capital, by David Harvey

Abstract

This, the latest work of David Harvey's was published in the summer of 1982. As the authour himself points out, his principal objective was to define a theory of urban development under the capitalist system, based on the historical experiences of the United Kingdom, France and the United States. However, in the course of investigation, certain theoretical «gaps» which he intended to treat superficially -the circulation of capital in the built environment, the role of the credit system and the mechanisms which mediatize the production of spatial configuration (such as land rent)- required more profound analysis due to the comparative characteristics of Marxist methodology.

The limits to Capital is a theoretical analysis which aims to provide a general interpretative framework in order to facilitate the comprehension of historical facts, whilst permitting the modification of this framework by such facts. The book begins by summarizing the basic concepts of Marxism, and goes on to clarify their meaning by applying them in different contexts. The first seven chapters resume and interpret K. Marx's theory. Chapters eight to thirteen concentrate on some of the «gaps», in the formulation of Marx's theory, and represent Harvey's major contribution. The section dedicated to the spatial circulation of capital and labour are particulary interesting, pinpointing their reproductive role in geographically unequal development, their contradictions, and the spatial distribution which such contradictions adopt, as well as the resulting implications in the formation of crisis situations and their spatially differentiating effects.