In this paper the nature of workers' support for economic competition between areas is explored, The connection between class relations and competition in space is theorised through a distinction between ‘structure’ and ‘system’ and through a specifically Marxist conception of competition. It is argued that workers' interests in spatial competition are contradictory and thus take diverse forms. These interests are analysed through a development of the capital-labour relation at successive levels of abstraction and in relation to different systems of competition, The role of economic differences between workers in exacerbating competition between them is explored. The class relations of growth coalitions are examined.
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