Doreen Massey "On Space"

Abstract: Massey’s “On Space” podcast for Social Science Bites challenges conceptions about the relevance of geographical space in politics and culture. She argues that too much focus is put on the effects of time and that this mindset leads to issues on how people view “developing” countries and other spaces.
Key Concepts: Massey sets high value on the considerations of space as a major influence of both politics and culture. She frowns upon the lack of this consideration as it negatively impacts how people view non-westernized countries. Massey talks about how thinking primarily in terms of time with disregard with space leads us to see the world as on a single path with westernization being the final goal of “developing” countries. What she means is that we view countries that aren't globalizing or aren't making the same choices as us as "underdeveloped" simply because our path leads one way and the path of others may be in a completely different direction. That doesn't make one path superior. It just makes it different; different goals for people in different spaces. By considering space as a major factor of how a country might grow, Massey suggests that western cultures will be much better at realizing and accepting alternative forms of development. Instead of seeing development as the aforementioned single path, Massey urges her listeners to understand that in every different location around the world, people are going to have their own views and needs for growth. No two places on Earth will be the same; each place will have their own stories, so each place will develop their own ideas about what is best for their own country. Massey says that this is how geography influences politics and policy. 
Examples: “Most obviously I would say that space is not a flat surface across which we walk; Raymond Williams talked about this: you’re taking a train across the landscape – you’re not traveling across a dead flat surface that is space: you’re cutting across a myriad of stories going on. So instead of space being this flat surface it’s like a pincushion of a million stories: if you stop at any point in that walk there will be a house with a story” (1).
Keywords:
Globalization
Space
Citations:
 1.      http://www.socialsciencespace.com/2013/02/podcastdoreen-massey-on-space/