本文回顧有關空間性質及作用的重要文獻，嘗試提出空間作為方法的論點。作者討論批判的政治經濟學、結構化理論、批判實在論、關係存有論等取徑，說明社會與空間、物與空間之間關係的代表性著作。作者主張：無論強調空間是促成的產物或建構的力量，往往易將空間物質化和物化。最好將空間視為方法，來探討社會和物的空間存有。空間作為方法，首先是大霹靂展開的相對空間之間隙，令萬物的存在得以區辨；其次是構築絕對空間座標來衡量萬物的形態和運動；第三是以關係空間來掌握萬物的性質和作用。空間作為方法，意味了空間是促成的過程，而非靜態的形式；空間的三重方法，也體現了物質和社會存在的多重層次。最後，空間政治雖可溯及空間的多重性和變動可能，但必須連結上利益、價值及權力，亦即連結上對社會的理解。

This article reviews literature on spatiality and its inherent effects, and proposes to conceptualize space as a method. Seminal works that elucidate the relationships between society (“the social”), objects and space are reviewed by discussing critical political economy, structuration theory, critical realism and relational ontology. Previous works tend to materialize and reify space, whether it is conceptualized as an enacted product or a force of construction. In contrast, this investigation proposes that we take space as a method to analyze the spatial ontology of “the social” and objects. First, relative space as a method describes the gaps between objects and the expansion of the universe after the Big Bang. Therefore, space as such renders everything distinguishable. Second, absolute space as a method refers to the system of coordinates for measuring the shape and motion of an object. Third, the existential qualities and effects of objects may be grasped through the relative space. Taken as a method, space becomes a process of enactment rather than a static form, and the three methods embedded in the notions of space embody the multifarious ontologies of materials and “the social”. The author concludes that although the multiplicity and changing possibilities of spatiality determine the politics of space, researchers still need to consider interests, values, power, and understandings of the social sphere.