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World City
Doreen Massey (Author)
9780745640600, Polity Press
Paperback / softback, published 2 August 2007
272 pages
20.8 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.372 kg
"World City is that rarest of commodities: a geographic text that is, at one and the same time, both theoretically astute, politically insistent and publicly accessible." "A brave and worthwhile attempt at creating a 'public geography', an effort to take insights developed during a career in our discipline to wider audiences. The book is written in a wonderfully open and accessible manner, using language that is neither wilfully exclusionary nor obscure." "An excellent theoretical treatment of London's entanglement in a web of economic, political, social, cultural, and power relations, and it forms the basis for a powerful political manifesto that confronts traditional notions of "place"-based policies and also challenges world cities to take responsibility bestowed upon them through their privileged position in the geometry of power and develop policies that go beyond the administrative boundaries that traditionally defined place." "A fascinating insight into London and the politics of place, highlighting not only the social and economic geographies which result but also the questions of moral responsibility world city status implies." "A fascinating read. Through her distinctive analytical lens, Massey has produced a masterpiece on the politics of what it means to be a 'world city'." "World City is well worth pondering, beyond even the question of equity or, more succinctly, of growth with social justice. The time has come for a new politics of development based on a logic other than the logic of markets and unlimited accumulation, in short, for a human and Earth-centred development in which the quality of life and of the Earth's eco-systems move to centre stage." "There are more than seven million Londoners now, and more to come. Massey's work suggests that there is also more than one London." "An important intervention into the rich literature on globalization and cities, a dimension of global social relations to which International Relations scholars would do well to pay much greater attention." "Written in an accessible style, free of academic jargon ... a text that students should read."
Phil Hubbard, Area book review forum
Sarah Holloway, Phil Hubbard, Heike Jons, Liz Mavroudi and Pat Noxolo, Area book review forum
Journal of Regional Science
New Zealand Geographer
Economic Geography Research Group
John Friedmann, Urban Studies
Fran Tonkiss, British Journal of Sociology
International Studies Review
Geography
Cities around the world are striving to be 'global'. This book tells the story of one of them, and in so doing raises questions of identity, place and political responsibility that are essential for all cities. World City focuses its account on London, one of the greatest of these global cities. London is a city of delight and of creativity. It also presides over a country increasingly divided between North and South and over a neo-liberal form of globalisation - the deregulation, financialisation and commercialisation of all aspects of life - that is resulting in an evermore unequal world. World City explores how we can understand this complex narrative and asks a question that should be asked of any city: what does this place stand for? Following the implosion within the financial sector, such issues are even more vital. In a new Preface, Doreen Massey addresses these changed times. She argues that, whatever happens, the evidence of this book is that we must not go back to 'business as usual', and she asks whether the financial crisis might open up a space for a deeper rethinking of both our economy and our society.
Acknowledgements vii Preface: After the Crash ix Introduction: ‘the future of our world’? 1 Part I Inventing a world city 27 1 Capital delight 29 2 ‘A successful city, but . . .’ 54 3 Imagining the city 73 Part II The world city in the country 95 4 The golden goose? 97 5 An alternative regional geography 114 6 Who owes whom? 130 7 Reworking the geographies of allegiance 149 Part III The world city in the world 163 8 Grounding the global 165 9 Identity, place, responsibility 177 10 A politics of place beyond place 188 Concluding reflections 211 Notes 218 References 232 Index 251
Subject Areas: Geography [RG]
