Given the increase of flows between places, due to time and space compression, Massey proposes a reflection of this trend in our understanding of space. Massey argues for an understanding of space as relational space rather than mathematical space. Place, as a concept, should be considered a fluid, heterogeneous and outward-looking space. Relations to other places is the defining factor rather than the geographical definitions.
As our previous discussion on the text by Jackson showed, flows between places are mobile and transient. Therefore, places should no longer be understood and static and fixed entities but rather as dynamic spaces.
One criticism of A Global Sense of Place could be that Massey erases the geographical aspect of place too much. In this minimalistic sense of place, everything is reduced to meetings of flow in a location. A counter-argument could be that the relations of space in a certain place will be affected by its history and environment. As an example, port cities have the opportunity to have certain economic flows that mainland cities do not.
An argument for Massey is that the reconfiguration of our understanding of place can be beneficial to marginalized groups. Nationalistic parties are often using the introspective and static idea of space that Massey criticizes as a cornerstone for oppression of minorities. Ideas of national identity closely tied to uniqueness of place is excluding immigrants. This also highlights the political nature of our understanding of words. From a post-structuralist point-of-view there is no objective understanding of space. By writing this article, Massey is contesting the current use of place and proposing another politically loaded understanding of the term. Massey’s understanding of place is influenced by values such as diversity, multi-ethnicity and extroversion.
Massey however does not state how this theoretical understanding of space should translate into more pragmatic academic research and one can only speculate whether this appeal to changing an academic notion of place can translate into a more general understanding of place as an extroverted space of flows.
Bibliography:
Massey, D., 1994. A Global Sense of Place. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
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