The Evolution of Manuel Castells’ Spatial Theory and the Intensification of Capital Logic

卡斯特的空间理论体系历经从城市空间到流动空间的范式转型。在早期城市空间理论框架中，空间被界定为社会关系的物质载体，其核心命题揭示发达资本主义社会通过空间生产完成劳动力再生产的深层机制。后期流动空间理论则重构了空间本体论认知，强调流动空间作为信息技术支撑的社会实践物质基础，在技术–社会交互中实现对地方空间的动态重构。流动空间通过压缩时空边界加速资本全球化进程，其引发的劳动异化加剧与生产模式转型，本质上折射出资本增殖与劳动压榨的双重逻辑；然而空间形态的演变并未消解资本积累的根本属性，反而通过数字技术使剥削机制更具隐蔽性。卡斯特通过剖析资本全球化的空间运行机制，不仅将马克思的劳动异化理论拓展至网络社会分析维度，更重要的是指出地方空间通过吸纳流动空间要素重构社会价值的可能性——以流动空间构建新型抗争场域，揭示流动空间与地方空间的对抗性共生关系。卡斯特的这一理论体系，不仅将空间批判的维度从物质领域拓展至虚拟网络空间，也为数字资本主义研究提供了创新性分析框架。Manuel Castells’ spatial theoretical system undergoes a paradigm shift from urban space to the space of flows. Within his early urban spatial framework, space is defined as the material carrier of social relations, with its core proposition revealing the underlying mechanisms through which advanced capitalist societies achieve labor reproduction via spatial production. The latter theory of the space of flows reconstructs ontological understandings of space, emphasizing its role as the material foundation of social practice supported by information technology, dynamically reshaping local spaces through techno-social interactions. By compressing spatiotemporal boundaries to accelerate capital globalization, the space of flows intensifies labor alienation and transforms production models, fundamentally reflecting the dual logic of capital accumulation and labor exploitation. However, the evolution of spatial forms does not dissolve the inherent nature of capital accumulation; instead, digital technologies render exploitation mechanisms more concealed. Through analyzing the spatial operational logic of capital globalization, Castells not only extends Marx’s theory of labor alienation into the analytical dimension of network societies but, more crucially, identifies the potential for local spaces to reconstruct social value by incorporating elements of the space of flows. By conceptualizing the space of flows as a new contested terrain, he reveals their antagonistic symbiotic relationship. Castells’ theoretical framework not only expands spatial critique from the material realm to virtual cyberspace but also provides an innovative analytical framework for studying digital capitalism.