Doreen Massey (geographer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Doreen Massey
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| Born |
Doreen Barbara Massey
3 January 1944 Manchester, England
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| Died | 11 March 2016 (aged 72) |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford University of Pennsylvania |
| Awards | Victoria Medal (1994) Prix Vautrin Lud (1998) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Economic and social geography |
Doreen Barbara Massey (January 3, 1944 – March 11, 2016) was an important British social scientist and geographer. Geographers study the Earth's features and how people live on it. Doreen Massey focused on how places and people are connected, especially looking at how money, power, and culture shape our world. She was a professor of Geography at the Open University.
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Doreen Massey's Career
Doreen Massey was born in Manchester, England. She grew up in Wythenshawe, living in a council estate (a type of public housing). She went to Oxford University and later the University of Pennsylvania. There, she earned a master's degree in Regional Science, which is about understanding regions and how they develop.
She started her career at a research group called the Centre for Environmental Studies (CES) in London. This group studied the British economy. At CES, she worked closely with Richard Meegan and others. After CES closed, she became a professor of geography at the Open University.
Massey retired in 2009, but she continued to share her ideas. She often spoke in the media about industry and how different regions were changing. As a Professor Emerita (a retired professor who keeps their title) at the Open University, she kept giving talks and helping with educational TV shows and books.
Doreen Massey mainly studied globalisation (how the world is becoming more connected), how different regions develop unevenly, cities, and what "place" means. Even though she often studied Western countries, she also worked in Nicaragua, South Africa, and Venezuela. Her ideas about space, place, and power have greatly influenced many different fields of study.
Her Main Ideas
How Money Shapes Places
Early in her career, Doreen Massey developed a theory called spatial divisions of labour. This idea explains that social inequalities (like differences between rich and poor people or areas) are created by how the capitalist economy works. This leads to big differences between rich and poor regions and between social classes. She believed that "space matters" for how much poverty, welfare, and wealth there is.
Over time, she made this theory even stronger. She always kept space and how things are connected in space at the center of her ideas about modern society.
Gender and Geography
Doreen Massey also looked at how space and place affect the experiences of different genders. She explored how places can have different "values" for men and women in society. She thought about how justice should be fair and equally available to everyone, no matter where they are or what their social group is. She built on earlier ideas about how geography is shaped by gender.
What "Place" Means
Doreen Massey believed that "place" is very important. However, she didn't think places were simple or unchanging. Instead, she argued that:
- Places have many different identities, not just one.
- Places are always changing; they are not frozen in time.
- Places are not closed-off areas with clear insides and outsides.
She used the example of Kilburn High Road in London to show what she called a "progressive" or "global" sense of place. She explained that space is not just a flat surface we walk on. Instead, it's full of countless stories happening all at once. She wanted people to see space as a "cut through the myriad stories" that we are all living at any moment. This means space and time are closely linked.
Awards and Honours
Doreen Massey received many awards and honours for her important work:
- 2014 - Presidential Achievement Award of the Association of American Geographers
- 2013 - Honorary Doctorate, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Zurich
- 2012 - Honorary Doctorate, Harokopio University, Athens
- 2010 - Hon DSc (Econ), Queen Mary University of London
- 2009 - Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of Glasgow
- 2006 - Honorary DLitt, National University of Ireland
- 2006 - Honorary Doctorate of Science awarded by the University of Edinburgh
- 2003 - Centenary Medal of Royal Scottish Geographical Society
- 2003 - Anders Retzius Medal in Gold, awarded by the Swedish Society of Anthropologists and Geographers
- 2002 - Fellow, British Academy
- 2001 - Honorary Fellow, St. Hugh's College, University of Oxford
- 2000 - Fellow, Royal Society of Arts
- 1999 - Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences
- 1998 - Prix Vautrin Lud ('Nobel de Géographie')
- 1994 - Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society
Doreen Massey also declined the award of an Order of the British Empire (OBE).
