POSTMODERNISM, MARXISM, AND LOCALITY RESEARCH: THE CONTRIBUTION OF CRITICAL REALISM TO THE DEBATE

s The conflict between postmodernism and Marxism is a central theme in contemporary human geography. This paper argues that the debate has been muddied by a confused usage of terms, and inadequate scholarship with regard to Marxism. It is necessary to distinguish between ‘postmodernism’ as simply a descriptive label for empirical developments in society, and the stronger claim that ‘postmodernism’ provides a new theoretical orientation capable of elucidating them. The former position is unobjectionable, but the latter is premature. Its advocates side‐step difficulties in the philosophy of science, and misrepresent the advantages of a postmodern approach to culture and the experiential domain. They erroneously claim special rights over locality studies, and their political contribution tends to romanticise subjectivism. The dismissal of Marxism completely ignores its anti‐essentialist strand, and overlooks the contemporary regeneration of Marxism under the stimulus of critical realism. Locality research makes scientific sense only in a realist‐marxist framework.