关键词: 权力, 地理区位, 经济精英, 政治精英

Abstract: Geographic location has become an important analytical focal point in academic circle since the 1880s. The existing literature suggests that in terms of the maximization of economic benefits, the optimal industrial location is determined by either traditional economic elements or modern knowledge and technology factors. Because the explanations are under the assumption of rational economic man, which pay relatively little attention to the subjectivity of human beings and social system, they did not go beyond the mode of seeking causation for inevitable results. This paper attempts to reveal the inherent relationship between location and social system from the perspective of humanism. Taking X market in Guangzhou as a case study, this paper analyzes how economic elites and political elites construct their power relations to determine the location of X market under the context of economic globalization. The main conclusions can be drawn as follows. (1) Local power relationship is embedded in market location, which is power-dependent. (2) Location is socially constructed, rather than ontologically pre-given. The construction and reconstruction of X market indicates that location is an outcome of social struggle for power and control. (3) Power relations of the location are strongly localized. These localized power relations are important for maintaining the prosperity of X market and retaining a relatively fixed market location. (4) Related to the first and second points, location is the arena where socio-spatial power relations are contested and compromises are negotiated and regulated. The development of X market suggests that the production of location is a dynamic process contingent upon the contestation and negotiation between economic and political elites.

Key words: power, location, economic elite, political elite