Social Networks Change Cities

Global city is a concept used by Castells as a theoretical concept of interconnected localities in many different cities around the world. This concept can be helpful in visualising how globalization is not affecting all localities equally as expressed by Massey. Castells, however, use this conceptual tool to specify how networks transcends locality. He argues that networks have become such a central component to contemporary society that there is a need for a concise theoretical framework concerning network society in order to effectively produce beneficial research. (Castells, 2000, pp. 94-97)

One potential issue that this framework could be useful for is related to resilience and reliance. As the connection between places is increasingly intensified so is the reliance on other localities. The increased optimization of production and separation of work tasks dispersed to various spaces in the world is detrimental to the self-sufficiency of areas. If one point in the network fails other points will suffer as well and as a worst-case scenario multiple points in the network will stop producing products essential to the network. The economic crash in 2008 is a recent example of how struggling nodes in a network can have immense effects on the complete network.

Another issue intensified by network society is the fading sovereignty of nation-states and the increased freedom for companies due to improved mobility of economy. A recent example of the opaque veil networks create is the scandal from 2013 where there was found horse meat in what was supposed to be beef. When there is a segregation spatially between production and consumption it becomes increasingly difficult for nation-states to effectively supervise the production especially when production goes through multiples nodes in a network. Ulrich Beck also criticizes how companies can easily move production to nation-states that are lenient on taxes, workers’ rights and environmental rights essentially creating a race to the bottom for struggling nation-states. (Beck, 2009)

 

 

Bibliography

Beck, Ulrich. (2009). World at Risk. Cambridge: Polity Press

Castells, Manuel, 2000. Toward a Sociology of the Network Society. Contemporary Sociology, vol. 29, episode 5, pp. 693-699.

Absolutely Not Static

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.

Thinking Geographically About Consumer Ethics

Combining these four concepts Jackson proceeds to apply them to an example in order to display the complexities of localities in contemporary society. As he states in his conclusion it is important to realize that this new understanding of geography does not provide solutions but instead it is useful for achieving a more nuanced and insightful understanding of current issues.

Looking at the example given by Jackson it becomes clear that his suggested understanding of geography is beneficial. The opportunity provided by Oxfam to purchase commodities to strangers as a form of charity is an illustration of the connection of places. Oxfam connects England with various places in the world deemed in need of charity. So the nature of the connection between these places and England will by large depend on the choices of Oxfam and English citizens. If Oxfam decides to remove a place from their line of products it will disrupt this connection. Likewise, there is the potential for certain places to receive the majority of charity due to price range of commodities or cultural factors influencing the choice of English donors. In this example, the connection between places both appears to be unstable and have a skewed power dynamic.
An example of the frail nature of this flow can be seen when individuals with authority criticize the effectiveness or feasibility of the project, as happened in this case. If this criticism is accepted as valid by a large amount of consumer the flow will mostly likely see significant changes or stop completely. The subsequent counter-arguments by Oxfam made it increasingly difficult consumers to decide what was the ethically correct choice and is an example of how individuals have to decide between conflicting expert knowledge in contemporary society. (Jackson, 2006)

The conception of distance and proximity is also highly relevant when looking at charity trends. The Oxfam goat is a case where places are close in proximity despite physical distance. This erasure of distance highlights the potentially value-laden choice of recipients of charity. When physical distance has little consequence to flows, the concept of proximity helps visualizing political, cultural and economic ties between different places. In this sense, concepts of proximity and distance are useful in problematizing the space of flows.

Bibliography:
Jackson, P., 2006. Thinking Geographically. Geography 91(3): 199-204