Marxism, in simple terms, is a type of socialism derived from Karl Marx’s teachings, which aims to reduce or abolish the injustice and inequality caused by capitalism (Daniels et. al., 2016). It focuses on the injustices and oppression posed on the proletariat: the workers, by the bourgeoisie. Further, it aims for “political commitment to social transformation” (Gregory et. al., 2009:246)
Marx outlined that a society is split into two antagonistic social classes: the bourgeoisie (the capitalists), who control and dominate the labour unequally, and the proletariat (the workers), who sell their work and labour to capitalists. He thought that capitalism was doomed and that it was going to collapse eventually due to its exploitive nature. Instead, he proposed that workers should claim the means of production and that through socialism, the society should aim to become classless and eventually mature into communism (Daniels et. al., 2016).
Marxist geography, therefore can be defined as the “analysis of the geographical conditions, processes and outcomes of socio-economic systems, primarily capitalism, using the tools of Marxist theory” (Gregory et. al., 2009: 446). Marxist geography focuses on social inequalities.
Daniels, P, Bradshaw, M, Shaw, D, Sidaway, J, & Hall, T (2016) ‘An Introduction to Human Geography’, 5th edn, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, United Kingdom.
Gregory, D., Johnston, R., Pratt, G., Watts, M. and Whatmore, S. eds., (2009) 'The Dictionary of human geography', John Wiley & Sons.
