GLST 490

Days 7-8: Chapter 3(Conclusion) – Massey

Housekeeping Items

Schedule for Book Reviews

● Reneé- Cabin at Singing River- Sept. 30● Mike- The Fate of Africa- Sept. 30● Sarah- Long Way Gone- Sept. 30● Zita- Cole Harris chapters- Sept. 30th● Nicole- Vancouver's Hoboes- Sept. 30th● Colleen- ?? - Oct. 2● Kaelan- Into Thin Air- Oct. 2● Nick- ??- Oct. 2● Richard- The Geography of Nowhere- Oct. 7

Housekeeping ItemsSchedule for Other Presentations● Suzanne- transgendered bathrooms- Oct. 2?● Janet- ??- ??● Bethany- Comox Estuary- Oct. 2● Sarah- ??- Oct. 2● Colleen- ??- Oct. 7● Alek- ??- Oct. 7● Lindsay- gentrification of Qualicum Beach- Oct. 9● Mike- Horne Lake access or colonialism in Africa- Oct. 9● Nick- Jumbo Pass (Invermere)- Oct. 9● Nicole- ??- Oct. 9● Kaelan- ??- Oct. 16● Zita- ??- ??● Richard- ??- Oct. 16

Housekeeping Items● I would like to go through my

slides from Tuesday first; then we have two presentations. If anyone can shed more light on their topic or date, that would be great.

● I also want to pass around, if time permits, a calendar featuring working by one of my favourite architects, Antoni Gaudi. His works makes a big contribution to Barcelona's sense of place.

Massey

● 'Place' and 'community' may or may not overlap, but they are not the same thing. How so?

● While Massey says that identification with place can lead to wanting to exclude others or wanting things to stay the same, she says it need not be so. “Is it not possible for sense of place to be progressive; not self-enclosing and defensive, but outward-looking?” Can you think of examples of this?

● She also suggests that Harvey's “space-time compression” may not be all that new. It has maybe affected colonized people for a long time, and is only now affecting Westerners.

Massey● Even so, some are much more in control of the process

than others. Some are free to travel and communicate around the world and direct the unfolding of globalization, with its increased mobility, whereas others aren't. Some are more affected – even imprisoned – by it. She gives the example of those who, because of fear of crime or lack of money, are marooned at home watching TV. Moreover, some are forced to move in undesirable ways – as refugees, for instance.

● She also challenges the belief that that this is all dependent on where one fits in the capitalist hierarchy. It is also very much about race and gender.

Refugees in Southeast Asia

Massey and the Global Sense of Place● Massey argues that places, rather than being fixed,

have quite porous boundaries, and she uses her London neighbourhood of Kilburn to illustrate this. As with people, places have multiple identities: “not only does Kilburn... have multiple identities (for its full identity is a full mix of these), [i]t is...impossible to even to begin thinking about Kilburn High Road without bringing into play half the world and a considerable amount of British imperialist history.... Imagining it this way... provokes a global sense of place.” (p. 68).

Massey and the Global Sense of Place● Massey: “Instead, then, of thinking of places with

boundaries around, they can be imagined as articulated moments in networks of social relations and understandings, but where a large proportion of these relations, experiences, and understandings are on a far larger scale than what we happen to define for that moment as the place itself. And this in turn allows a sense of place which is extroverted, which includes a consciousness of its links with the wider world, which integrates in a positive way the global and local” (p. 69). Places are processes, not just things.

Massey and the Global Sense of Place● Rather than just producing homogenization,

globalization – by producing distinct sets of layers in different places – can actually result in greater variety in some instances. Can you think of examples? For Massey, place is process, is defined from outside, has multiple identities and histories, and has its uniqueness defined by its interactions.

● Mobility also manifests itself in different ways – from transient nannies and maids, and guest workers of various kinds, to expats and overseas consultants who command high salaries and nice accommodations.

The “Maid Trade”

Different Experiences of Stoke Newington – from Working-Class to Immigrant & Yuppie...

● Old-timers blame the decline in safety and community feeling on immigration (particularly, from Kurdistan). Moreover, many of their high street icons have been appropriated by others – the Red Lion pub has become the Magpie and Stump wine bar.

Phenomenon of Gentrification● From poor people and

immigrants to artists and Bohemians to yuppies – e.g. Main Street neighbour-hood, and attempts re Commercial Drive. In Kits, we have seen the 'Robsonization' of 4th,

with doggie bakeries and designer yoga wear clothing stores replacing mom and pop businesses.

Questions for Discussion● Gentrification clearly

involves different conceptions of place; when is it a good thing and when is it a bad thing?

● Is there some way to densify land uses and update a community without losing the pre-existing sense of place?

● Is there a way to strike a healthy balance between different populations?

Final Reminders● We are ahead of ourselves on the reading, but things will even

up as we get into solid presentations over the next week or two.

● A reminder that I only put two chapters of my draft manuscript on reserve, and you should start reading it as soon as you can. If you want any of the bibliographic references, just let me know.