Space and Power: Politics, War and Architecture

by Paul Q. Hirst

Paul Hirst was one was one of the most original thinkers of his generation. This book is being published post-humously after his tragic death in 2003. Written with verve and lucidity, it is a scholarly account of the various ways in which space is configured by power, and in which space becomes a resource for power. Erudite and exciting, the book combines new and old theory in an imaginative, yet pragmatic, way. It is typical of Hirst’s ability to make inspiriational leaps across theoretical and disciplinary boundaries, critically combining insights from social theory, politics, history and geography. This is an important, forward-looking book that will influence academic debate for many years to come.

Genres: Architecture, Urbanism, Theory, Politics

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

Paul Quentin Hirst (May 20, 1946 – June 17, 2003) was a British sociologist and political theorist. He became Professor of Social Theory at Birkbeck College, London, in 1985 and held the post until his death from a stroke and brain haemorrhage.

During the 1970s he became well known (along with Barry Hindess) as the main figure in British structural Marxism. By the late 1970s and 1980s, however, Hirst had become a critic of Louis Althusser's brand of Marxism. Drawing upon Michel Foucault but also W. V. O. Quine and Ludwig Wittgenstein, he criticised essentialism, epistemological discourses and the possibility of any general theory, in a move against careless sociological constructionist imperialism. In his work on democratic governance, he turned towards the ideas of the English political pluralists: John Neville Figgis, G. D. H. Cole, and Harold Laski. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hirst developed a theory of associationalism which attempted to revive social democracy by providing an alternative to state socialism and free-market liberalism. He also made important contributions to critical legal theory.

His later work, with Grahame Thompson resulted in an influential criticism of fashionable theories of economic globalisation, demonstrating the continued importance of the nation-state. His book 'War and Power' is a historical-sociological analysis of the development of the modern state and state system and addresses some of current political challenges including climate change. His last book 'Space and Power' clearly demonstrated his intellectual scope. In the book he investigates the relationship between space and power, arguing that the exercise of power is both constrained by and shapes the character of the built environment.

With Mark Cousins, Colin MacCabe, and Richard Humphreys, he founded the London Consortium in 1993. He chaired the Executive Committee of Charter 88 and was an early and regular contributor to openDemocracy.