Doreen Massey was a highly influential human geographer and social theorist who challenged the traditional view of space as a passive, neutral container for social activity. Instead, she argued that space is socially constructed, relational, dynamic and inherently political — an idea that reshaped geography, political science, sociology, urban planning, feminist theory and development studies.
This article explains Massey’s core ideas — space as socially constructed and relational, her three key features of space (interrelations, multiplicity and constant evolution), her concept of a global or progressive sense of place, and her influential idea of power geometry, which shows how globalisation and mobility affect different groups very unequally. It also covers her feminist geography, her account of uneven regional development under capitalism, her major books, and how her work relates to thinkers like Henri Lefebvre, David Harvey and Michel Foucault. Useful for students of political theory, human geography, sociology and UPSC or state civil services aspirants.
Author: Darshita Neeraj
Senior Researcher,
Mudita Learning and Knowledge Private Limited
Email: info@muditabooks.com
Date of post: 25.08.2026
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