Doreen Massey: For Political Praxis, Relationality and Contingency

This chapter explores Doreen Massey’s theorization of space as relationally constituted as a facet of her praxis-driven commitment to the liberatory potential of economic geography. The chapter outlines the genealogy and diverse application of Massey’s approach to relationality, through focusing on four areas of her scholarship: (1) her critique of industrial locations theory, (2) her work on gendered spatial divisions of labour, (3) her analysis of capitalist landownership and (4) her advancement of ‘power-geometries’ as a critique of globalization theories. I argue that these four dimensions demonstrate Massey’s overarching commitment to making the political and social relationality of space legible. In the second section of the chapter, I outline some of the ways Massey’s intellectual and political advancements infuse and strengthen feminist political economy’s application within economic geography, emphasizing, in particular, contemporary shifts towards a ‘praxis’-focused approach to economic ‘conjuncture’.