Seeking Spatial Justice (Globalization and Community)

by Edward W. Soja

In 1996, the Los Angeles Bus Riders Union, a grassroots advocacy organization, won a historic legal victory against the city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority. The resulting consent decree forced the MTA for a period of ten years to essentially reorient the mass transit system to better serve the city’s poorest residents. A stunning reversal of conventional governance and planning in urban America, which almost always favors wealthier residents, this decision is also, for renowned urban theorist Edward W. Soja, a concrete example of spatial justice in action. 
In Seeking Spatial Justice, Soja argues that justice has a geography and that the equitable distribution of resources, services, and access is a basic human right. Building on current concerns in critical geography and the new spatial consciousness, Soja interweaves theory and practice, offering new ways of understanding and changing the unjust geographies in which we live. After tracing the evolution of spatial justice and the closely related notion of the right to the city in the influential work of Henri Lefebvre, David Harvey, and others, he demonstrates how these ideas are now being applied through a series of case studies in Los Angeles, the city at the forefront of this movement. Soja focuses on such innovative labor–community coalitions as Justice for Janitors, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and the Right to the City Alliance; on struggles for rent control and environmental justice; and on the role that faculty and students in the UCLA Department of Urban Planning have played in both developing the theory of spatial justice and putting it into practice. Effectively locating spatial justice as a theoretical concept, a mode of empirical analysis, and a strategy for social and political action, this book makes a significant contribution to the contemporary debates about justice, space, and the city.

Genres: Geography, Urban Planning, Cities, Urban Studies, Nonfiction, Architecture, Politics

276 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2010

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book of Soja's that I've read but I've heard him lecture before. Reading Seeking Spatial Justice, I could sometimes hear Soja's voice echoing in my head, saying classic Soja lines like "The larger significance of the spatial turn and the resurgence of interest in critical spatial thinking arise from the belief that we are just as much spatial as temporal beings, that our existential spatiality and temporality are essentially or ontologically coequal, equivalent in explanatory power and behavioral significance, interwoven in a mutually formative relation. Human life is in every sense spatio-temporal, geo-historical, without time or space, history or geography, being inherently privileged on its own." Soja in person is a rather portly man brimming with big ideas, big concepts. For Soja, space is all-encompassing (as the quote above indicates), everything is space. And urban life isn't a modern invention; it's been around since the days of Catal Huyuk, a Neolithic settlement in modern Turkey that dates back to 7500 to 5700 BC. So expansive and encompassing are Soja's ideas and concepts that conventional language isn't adequate to express them. So Soja exercises his geographer's license to create and construct the terms necessary to convey what he mean - geo-historical, spatio-temporal, practical-political, for instance.

For all of Soja's creative license, Seeking Spatial Justice is a fairly tightly written and clearly structured book arguing that justice has a geography; that "location in space will always have attached to it some degree of relative advantage or disadvantage". Some of these differences might be relatively inconsequential, while others are oppressive. Although we cannot avoid spatial injustice, Soja wants to open the reader's eyes to its existence and the processes that give rise to it - from global developments like climate change and cross-border flows of trade and investment, to national developments like the drawing of electoral boundaries, to more local developments like the siting of a new factory, school or bus route.

Soja paints a compelling case on the need to pay attention to spatial justice. He does a good job of explaining the concept of spatial justice, its evolution through the decades and how the concept underpins some of the key work of civil society organisations and activists in LA. The main flaw of Seeking Spatial Justice for me was that Soja has still failed to answer the "what now" question, particularly on the part of policymakers. Soja makes it clear that his book is not an academic exercise but is meant to draw the link between theory and practice, and to galvanise political and social action. Yet, there is surprisingly little discussion in the book on what stakeholders can do to address spatial injustice in development projects, urban policies, etc. Soja does include a few LA-based case studies, but it would have been more useful to have a broader discussion on how stakeholders can tackle spatial injustice. Where he does address the issue of tackling spatial injustice in practice, Soja's focus is a narrow one, looking solely at the role of civil society, which, while an important player in tackling spatial injustice, oftentimes plays a more downstream role in fighting initiatives with an impact on spatial injustice that are already in the works. Even then, Soja says little on the role of civil society beyond talking about Community Benefit Agreements and exhorting community and labour based organisations to form cross-cutting alliances. It might have been useful for Soja to discuss the role of policymakers in tackling spatial injustice.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice summary of some of the big hitters in urban spatial practice and relations (Harvey, Lefebvre, Foucault), along with some practical application of seeking justice in the spaces we live. However, felt like the connection between the concept of spatial justice informing social and historical practices and discourses was a bit too vague.

[Jonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought the book because it is generally regarded as one of the main works of spatial justice and socio-spatial theory. I have never read a book like this before and I was very surprised how vague and fuzzy the book is in terms of actual theory. I started to write down concepts to keep track of Soja's very extensive argumentation and I was left with very few substantial concepts and statements to really take away. There is much to be said about the history of justice and how important spatial thinking is but these points are reiterated over and over again rather than expanding on the mechanisms through which space impacts social processes. The book is also surprisingly urban, which is understandable to a certain degree as Soja explains how spatial justice originates from urban protest. However, more regionalized and globalized forms of spatial justice are only briefly addressed in the beginning. I wish this was given more space. Ultimately, I learned a lot of backgrounds and histories, I have certainly gotten a historical overview of theorists, but I feel like I still don't fully understand spatial justice as a concept.

[Nils Jepson]

finished a while back but i think it was a really good survey book that was sometimes seemed light on any actual analysis. I'm obviously not really involved in academic debates around "justice" or what counts as "justice" but it sometimes seemed like soja's arguments around why space and how justice plays out in space were pretty self explanatory. i left the book more interested in his activism around Walmart, urban gardening, de-industrialization, etc than with a clear understanding on why a separate type of way of looking at "justice" was needed. ofc inequalities play out spatially; confused why soja spent so much of the book making an argument I'm sure most people agree with!!

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

aixi com el de postmodern geographies va ser interessant, aquest es un toston. gairebe no desenvolupa el concepte de justicia espacial, es perd en la concrecio d’exemples de ciutats nordamericanes.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps a four, it is hard to judge a book describing people and organizations I am so intimately familiar with, and struggles I played a role in. And am I part of a Los Angeles school? Damn, who knew. Because of course I have my own ideas about all of that. And as an academic I think the theory is useful and there are some key ideas here, though I have to think more through the criticisms of Harvey and Marcuse. As an organizer I find that, as always, the discussion of practice finds movement where it isn't, and does not look in enough depth at where there are possibilities for it, and I always find that so immensely frustrating. And unfair. But it was definitely very thought-provoking, well worth reading for its discussion of how the spatial, the social, and the historical interact, along with its overview of theories of justice, and the spatial thought of Lefebvre and Foucault. And I definitely appreciate Soja's work in making it more accessible.

[Gene · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading this book I felt like Jane Brady, "Well, all day long at school I hear how great Marcia is at this or how wonderful Marcia did that! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"

Marcia=the word innovative

A list of Soja's use of the word innovative: "Innovative roles, innovative forms, innovative new forms, innovative thinking, innovative reconceptualizations, innovative developments, innovative struggles, innovative organizing, innovative ways, innovative coalitions, innovative departures, and finally Innovative change agents...Really? Innovative change agents?!

[Jenina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

“Human geographies are not merely external containers, given and immutable.”

A primer on spatial justice, which offers place-based knowledge, critical spatial awareness, and regional sensitivity as a lens for global and local urban issues. While the book gives a comprehensive overview of the theoretical roots of space, justice, and spatial justice with Lefebvre, Marion Young, Harvey, and Foucault, the chapters I found most effective in their argument of orienting practice towards the struggle of spatial justice were the final ones that delved into the history of the labor movement and justice-based coalitions (LACAPS, J4J, LAANE), and the translation of theory into practice featuring the urban planning department at UCLA.

I read this in the spirit of assembling my reference points into some totalities (paano ‘ko to maibubuo?? remains the perennial question). Overall, it's a book I’ll return to as I continue to engage with applying the lens of spatial justice into my work.

Also would recommend this book as a background read to those writing a thesis on the social production of space, labor movements, coalition-building, critical geography, urban planning, or anything adjacent to interrogating the built environment beyond mere neutral containers... :*

[MatosMR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soja presenta en «Seeking Spatial Justice» un compendio de sus ideas más importantes sobre la justicia espacial, lo que convierte a esta obra en una referencia obligada para quienes estudian el tema. Se podría decir que es un resumen estructurado a partiri de sus trabajos previos, de manera particular de «Postmetropolis. Critical Studies of Cities and Regions» y «Postmodern Geographies».

La obra inicia con reflexiones acerca de la importancia del concepto y sus implicaciones en el mundo contemporáneo y después presenta las raíces teóricas de la justicia espacial haciendo un repaso rápido pero bien hecho que inicia con Platón y termina en Lefebvre y Foucault. Me parece que la intención del autor es ofrecer pautas para consolidar una teoría coherente de la justicia espacial, hasta el momento no realizada. Para ejemplificar, el autor hace referencia a diversos acontecimientos en la ciudad de Los Angeles, donde él reside y trabaja.

[Noam Levinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started my passion for urban geography and city planning. Soja takes the study of urban space and places it in a 21st century social justice framework, placing racial, social, and economic inequalities in an uneven urban terrain. This case study of Los Angeles reveals stunning parallels in other global cities: racialized economic exploitation, inaccessible public transportation, and irresponsible neoliberal governance. Soja describes the tragedy of the contemporary city, and more importantly he highlights the struggles for spatial justice. This book is not only a critique, but a history of social change and a guidebook for the activists of tomorrow.

[Jacob Woocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skipped the theory part (lol). The movement history chapters were very valuable and Soja clearly knows his stuff. The material on UCLA urban planning was very interesting to me. However, his claim that his is a "comprehensive" history of this period of organizing is presumptuous and indicative of his particular perspective and location within the networks he's writing about. There are important critiques to be made that are totally absent from this book (such as the ultimate conservatism of the 'progressive' elected officials that came up in this period, the contradictions and limitations of the nonprofit industrial complex, etc.).

[Zhi Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good introduction to spatial (in)justice. I particularly enjoyed Soja's review of the theorists and their seminal works in the chapter "Building a Spatial Theory of Justice". I also enjoyed how he emphasized the need for crosscutting coalition building through his later chapters on praxis in Los Angeles and at UCLA as well as how he connected the right to the city to the struggle for spatial justice.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, so clear - notes and references were awesome. Wishing for an update now that it’s over a decade old.

[Connor Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Banger lots of important critical thinking methods

[Andrew]

By far the least theory-driven of Soja's works, Seeking Spatial Justice recaps and revisits a lot of the ideas he covered in his first three books (and generally said far better then, especially in the magisterial Postmetropolis), followed by a report on political actions of various stripes, mostly in Los Angeles, all of them perceived by Soja as practices of spatial justice. It's not bad, although it smacks a bit of triumphalism in an era when, at least from where I'm standing, the working man has his back against the wall.

[Ariel Fuentes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book with gives you knowledge in theory, spatial concepts , social movements and recent history, specially about LA. It isn't so technical or hard to understand.