Us political system

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David Harvey: The Right to the City

Argument: Ever growing economic surplus is absorbed by ever

growing urbanization + consumption (in capitalism)

Harvey shows on examples from history that for capitalism to work, surplus capital must be absorbed. He argues the biggest absorbent is the built environment - growing urbanization. (grows in scale, spreads from developed to developing > globe, spreads from rich to poor - credit instruments)

On examples from history Harvey shows that a 'destructive' event i.e. Haussmann's new plan for Paris stimulates economy, creates jobs and consumption and ultimately growth. This growth has its limits - geographical, financial, demand, natural etc. when the limit is reached for the particular 'type' of growth, we experience a crisis. Growth stops, prices explode, jobs stop, all slows down. Then a new absorbent must be invented in order to 'stimulate' the economy, create jobs and wealth to be spent on more wealth creation. That is followed by another - bigger - crisis, followed by bigger 'destruction'. (war or) Consider NY & Moses; 2008 credit crunch - the collapse of suburb? 

Can we start slowing down, or better, can we not create absorbents with creating new colonias? 

Mitchel, D. : The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space

In the wake of recent terrorist attacks, efforts to secure the American city have life-or-death implications. Yet demands for heightened surveillance and security throw into sharp relief timeless questions about the nature of public space, how it is to be used, and under what conditions. Blending historical and geographical analysis, this book examines the vital relationship between struggles over public space and movements for social justice in the United States. Presented are a series of linked cases that explore the judicial response to public demonstrations by early twentieth-century workers, and comparable legal issues surrounding anti-abortion protests today; the Free Speech Movement and the history of People's Park in Berkeley; and the plight of homeless people facing new laws against their presence in urban streets. The central focus is how political dissent gains meaning and momentum--and is regulated and policed--in the real, physical spaces of the city.

Harvey, D. (2012). Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the urban revolution.

Harvey, D. (2012). Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the urban revolution Verso. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/docview/1095629252?accountid=7082