I used a google search to find information about Doreen Massey and her studies on globalization, urban development, and her concepts of space, time, and gender. There was not nearly as much information aboutr her and her studies as there was on bauman. But in many ways Massey and Bauman see the world in a simialr fashion. Massey’s idea of geographical space and the reconceptualization of place complement Bauman’s theories of ‘liquid modernity’. Massey has developed a theory of a ’spatial division of labour’ based on studies of the social inequality of modern capitalistic economic practices. The divisions between rich and poor lead to poverty and marginalization of the poor. “Space matters for poverty. welfare, and wealth”. Massey states that -places have multiple identities instead of only one; palces are not ‘frozen in time’ rather, they are – as Doug suggested in our forum posts – a process, a movement towards a sense of semi-permanence as opposed to the concrete reality of a fixed place; and finally she suggests that places atre not enclosures, but rather amophous spaces with no permanent inside or outside.
The University of Minnesota Press reviews Massey’s book “Space, Place, and Gender” and her analysis of the effects of a hierarchical way of seeing the world which restrictions on women’s freedom and safety. She addresses issues of uneven regional development, and the effects of inner-city problems that manifest themselves within the relationships of how we conceive of space and who can use it.
Massey writings are concerned with economic geography and how we ’see’ the world and our places in it, with feminism, and with postcolonialism – she has analysed the ‘profound connection of space and place with gender and the construction of gender realtions. Spaces and places are gendered, she argues, at once reflecting and affecting how gender is understood” (Harvard Design Magazine).
In her book, “Geography Matters: A Reader” (edited with John Allen,) Massey presents her theories of the importance of place and its connections with human geography. Societal change and the relations between society and spatial organization, between society and nature, and between human dependence and interdependence on space and place are the nmain concern of her studies. The book examines the changing geography of class cultures, gender relations, city structures, state power, the effects of international law and shows how we cannot uinderstand any one of these without addressing and acknowledging the others. “Social change involves spatial change and spatial change affects social organization”. This book contains articles that address the relationshps between society and nature, interdependence, uniqueness of place, re-structuring local economies, and environmental futures.
The google site contains an extensive bibliography of Massey’s books, and external links to her profile at the Open University, and a radio transcript and a mp3 file.
This was a very intersting and informative exercise. it is always better to see the whole of a writer’s catalogue to get aclear and open idea of their teories and the academic work they have done to supportb their theories. Tahnks Doug./ Once again an enlivening and exciting lesson.
