David Harvey has taken up Lefebvre's thinking about urban social life

in both its economic and symbolic dimensions. This work is imbued

with a keen awareness of the temporality of urban life both in the
sense of long-term accumulation in the cycles of finance, industry and
infrastructure and in the shorter term of memory and meaning at the
scale of individuals and communities.
AnotherpartofyourprofileistheinfluenceofMarxisttheoryonyour
work.IwanttotalkaboutthatdynamicbetweengeographyandMarxism.
WhatledyoutoMarxismasasystemofanalysisthatyoucouldbuildon
andaddto?

There'sabitofajokethatsomeEuropeansliketotell,aboutEuropeanswho
transfertotheUnitedStates(ImovedtotheUnitedStatesin1969).TheU.S.
hastwoeffectsonyou:iteitherturnsyoureallyradicalbecauseyouget
shockedbythesituationsyouencounter,oryousortofthrowyourlotinwith
thesystem,andyoubecomekindofprerightwing.Iguessyou'veinterviewed
peoplewhohavedoneboth.
Atthattime,IfeltthatthetheoreticalframeworkIhadbeenusingformyown
workwasn'tadequateforthatpoliticalsituation.Ithought,"Well,weshould
readMarx,justforinterest."SomeofussatdownandreadMarx,andIfoundit
averycompellingframeworkwithinwhichIcouldformulateproblems,think
throughthingsintermsofmyintellectualwork.Itwasalsoincreasinglyhelpful
politically.
Youmentionedthatyouhadcome[totheU.S.],youhadseentheAmerican
citiesburning,youthenbegantolookatanewbodyoftheorythat
hadn'tinfluencedyouinthepast.Someofyourworkhasbeenoncities.
Canyougiveusanexampleofhowthisallcomestogetherinawayof
seeingthings,say,aboutcities?InaninterviewwhichIfoundonthe
webyousaidthatyoubecomeawareofproblems,andthenyoufightthem
out,findingdifferentwaystoframetheissues.

WhenIfirstgottoBaltimoretherewerealotofstudiesoncities,andIbecame
veryinvolvedintheproblemofhousinghousingfinance,housingcollapsein
theinnercity,housingconditionsingeneral.Iwasfascinatedtodoaseriesof
reportsforthecity,andalsoforotheragencies,abouthowtoapproachthe
wholequestionofurbanregeneration,whichisverymuchontheagendathere.

ItwasextraordinarytomethatsomeoftheideasIgotforthatcameoutof
readingEngels'sfamoussayingontheconditionoftheworkingclassin
Englandin1844;andalsothehousingquestionwherehesaysthebourgeoisie
hadonlyonewaytosolveitshousingproblem:itmoveditaround.WhenI
startedtolookatwhatsomeoftheproposalswere,theywereabout
gentrification,which,ineffect,woulddisplacepeopleandjustsimplymovethe
problemaround.
SoImadeabigpitchinthesereports,saying,"Ifyou'regoingtoaddressthis
question,youcan'taddressitinawaythatsimplymovesitaround.Inordernot
tomoveitaround,wehavetodealwithbasicquestionsaboutincome
distribution,wealthandthelike,and,also,ofcourse,racism,andhousing
marketsandsoon."Thiswasaveryimportantprinciplethatcameoutof
readingEngels,andthenimportingit.Iputitintothesereports;Ididn'tcite
Engels.Ididn'tciteEngels,andeverybodythoughtthiswasafantasticinsight,
andsomebodysaidtome,"Wheredidyougetthatfrom?"Isaid,"From
Engels,"andtheysaid,"Whoishe?"

InwhatwayswasMarxismnotadequate,andwasitinformedbywhatyou
knewasageographer?

Ididn'tfinditadequateonthingslike,say,theenvironmentalissue.Ithought
therewasalotofworktobedonetobringthatuptopace.Ithadn'tbeenvery
strongonurbanization,ingeneral.Imean,Engelshadthesetwothingsthat
wereveryuseful.