World City

12/30/22 • 33 min

Doreen Massey once wrote that “it is (or ought to be) impossible even to begin thinking about Kilburn High Road without bringing into play half the world and a considerable amount of British imperialist history.” In this episode, urban sociologist Emma Jackson joins us to unpack London’s entanglements with places elsewhere.

London’s imperialist and colonialist legacies are evident not only on the city’s streets, but also reach behind closed doors: into our classrooms, living rooms, offices, shops, and hospital wards. We speak to sociologist Yasmin Gunaratnam to discuss these lasting bonds.

In her book World City, Doreen Massey asks: what does London stand for? We’d love to hear your responses to her question. What does London mean to you? What are your experiences of the city? Please share your thoughts with us via this form.

Episode Credits

Host: Agata Lisiak
Co-host: Emma Jackson
Guest: Yasmin Gunaratnam
Also Featured: Doreen Massey
Writer and Producer: Agata Lisiak
Senior Editor: Susan Stone
Sound Producer: Reece Cox
Production Assistant: Adèle Martin
Music: Studio R
Artwork: Bose Sarmiento
Special Thanks: Serpentine Gallery
In partnership with: The Sociological Review Foundation
Funded by: Volkswagen Foundation

Find more about Spatial Delight at The Sociological Review.

Doreen Massey’s work quoted in this episode:

A Global Sense of Place, Marxism Today, 1991
World City (Wiley, 2007)
Doreen Massey interviewed at London’s Serpentine Gallery, 2006

Also mentioned:

Young Homeless People and Urban Space: Fixed in Mobility, Emma Jackson (Routledge, 2015)
Bowling Together – Emma Jackson’s research project exploring leisure practices and urban change through the site of a London bowling alley
Death and the Migrant: Bodies, Borders and Care, Yasmin Gunaratnam (Bloomsbury, 2013)
Go home? The politics of immigration controversies, Yasmin Gunaratnam, Emma Jackson, Gargi Bhattacharyya, William Davies, Sukhwant Dhaliwal, Kirsten Forkert, Hannah Jones and Roiyah Saltus (Manchester University Press, 2017)
A perverse subsidy: African trained nurses and doctors in the NHS, Maureen Mackintosh, Parvati Raghuram and Leroi Henry, Soundings 34 (2006).
The Migrant’s Paradox: Street Livelihoods and Marginal Citizenship in Britain, Suzanne M. Hall (University of Minnesota Press, 2021)
Artistic and Intellectual Hospitality, Yasmin Gunaratnam and Fataneh Farahani, Discover Society, 2020

Episode Credits

Find more about Spatial Delight at The Sociological Review.

Doreen Massey’s work quoted in this episode:

A Global Sense of Place, Marxism Today, 1991
World City (Wiley, 2007)
Doreen Massey interviewed at London’s Serpentine Gallery, 2006

Also mentioned:

Previous Episode

Geography Matters!

Much of our world – how we imagine it, how we inhabit it – continues to be shaped by various forms of imperialism and colonialism. In this episode, we discuss how geography can help us understand the many entanglements of the global and the local.

Doreen Massey thought geographically about everything. She rejected the neat, linear ideas of spatial difference that have long shaped western geographical imaginations. Massey challenged western scientists, including herself, to stop pretending their position was in any way universal, and to provincialise their questions and theories instead.

What has shaped your geographical imagination? What – or who – has challenged the way you understand the world? How does geography matter to you? Please use this form to share your thoughts.

Episode Credits
Host: Agata Lisiak
Guests: John Allen, David Featherstone, Tariq Jazeel, Linda McDowell, Tracey Skelton
Also Featured: Doreen Massey
Writer and Producer: Agata Lisiak
Senior Editor: Susan Stone
Sound Producer: Reece Cox
Production Assistant: Adèle Martin
Music: Studio R
Artwork: Bose Sarmiento
Special Thanks: The Open University, Michael Todd
In partnership with: The Sociological Review Foundation
Funded by: Volkswagen Foundation

Find more about Spatial Delight at The Sociological Review.

Doreen Massey’s work quoted or mentioned in this episode:

Is the World Really Shrinking?, The Open University radio lecture, 2006
Doreen Massey on Space, Social Science Space, 2013
Space, Place, and Politics, The Open University, 2009
A Global Sense of Place, Marxism Today, 1991
Space, Place, and Gender, Doreen Massey, (Polity Press, 1994)
Geography Matters!, edited by Doreen Massey and John Allen (Cambridge University Press, 1984)
Human Geography Today, edited by Doreen Massey, John Allen and Philip Sarre (Wiley, 1991)
Geographical Worlds, edited by Doreen Massey and John Allen (The Open University, 1995)
A Place in the World, edited by Doreen Massey and Pat Jess (The Open University, 1995)

Next Episode

Cities for the Many Not the Few

For Doreen Massey, every place poses a challenge, “the challenge of negotiating a here-and-now” – or what she called throwntogetherness. In this episode, we hear about different struggles to make cities more liveable – and more just – for the many, not the few. We discuss various limitations of the dominant political structures and why it is crucial to put continuous pressure on those who hold power.

Agata Lisiak and her co-host for this episode, Anna Richter, speak to geographer Ash Amin about urban commons and social empowerment. Urban scholar Carmel Christy K J tells us about the intersections of social and environmental justice in the port city of Kochi, and anthropologist Ayşe Çavdar uncovers the politics of mass housing projects in Turkey. Also, Anna and Agata make use of the sunny weather to go to a park and ask Berliners what they think makes a good city.

What do you think makes a good city? Please let us know by filling out this form.

Episode Credits

Host: Agata Lisiak
Co-host: Anna Richter
Guests: Ash Amin, Carmel Christy, Ayşe Çavdar
Also Featured: Doreen Massey
Writer and Producer: Agata Lisiak
Senior Editor: Susan Stone
Sound Producer: Reece Cox
Production Assistant: Adèle Martin
Music: Studio R
Artwork: Bose Sarmiento
Special Thanks: Serpentine Gallery
In partnership with: The Sociological Review Foundation
Funded by: Volkswagen Foundation

Find more about Spatial Delight at The Sociological Review.

Episode Resources
Doreen Massey’s work quoted or mentioned in this episode:
Doreen Massey interviewed at London’s Serpentine Gallery, 2006
Cities for the Many Not the Few, with Ash Amin and Nigel Thrift (Policy Press, 2000)
For Space (Sage, 2003)
On Space and the City. In: City Worlds, edited by John Allen, Doreen Massey and Steve Pile (Routledge, 1999)

Recommended resources:
Land of Strangers, Ash Amin (Polity, 2013)
Grammars of the Urban Ground, edited by Ash Amin and Michele Lancione (Duke UP, 2022)
Ekümenopolis, dir. Ucu Olmayan Şehir (2012)
Geniş Zaman – a weekly YouTube program on contemporary political issues hosted by Ayşe Çavdar and Aysuda Kölemen (in Turkish)
The ‘Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen’ initiative
Housing Expropriation Referendum in Berlin: How it was won and what comes next?, Urban Political podcast, 2021
Housing Struggles in Berlin: Part I Rent Cap, Urban Political podcast, 2021
Housing struggles in Berlin: Part II Grassroots Expropriation Activism, Urban Political podcast, 2021
Richter, A. and D. Humphry. 2021. Ja! Damit Berlin unser Zuhause bleibt! That Berlin will remain our home! حتى تظل برلين بيتنا Berlin evimiz k

Spatial Delight - World City

Transcript

Emma Jackson reading Doreen Massey00:00:04.049

"There is a buzz about London, as about so many big cities. As well as draining you, utterly, as you battle through crowded tubes and buses and grimly negotiate the hubbub, it returns that lost energy to you. ... And London is enriched now with an increased cultural diversity, and a sense that the city is going places."

Agata Lisiak00:00:31.230

Hello and welcome to Spatial Delight, a podcas