doreen massey opinion time space compression

This consequently affects and disrupts human lives Harvey notes that time-space compression is 'stressful', 'challenging' and even 'deeply troubling'. Time-space compression, then, is how capitalism has compressed the world and sped up economic processes. With the support of improved technology and transport, capital is moving its way around the world much faster. He notes that capitalist economic activities, the movement of capital, and consumption, are rapidly increasing, which in consequence, reduces distance (space) and has accelerated the pace of social life. In this novel, he speaks of how we experience this annihilation of space and time. In 1989, Harvey wrote his famous novel The Condition of Postmodernity. The Condition of Postmodernityĭuring the 1970s and 1980s, other Marxist geographers reshaped this idea. 2 This was foundational for geographers and globalisation studies distance has reduced rapidly (the annihilation) due to the developments of technology and transport, making it quicker to communicate with someone or travel somewhere (time has destroyed space). In his prominent novel Grundrisse der Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie, Karl Marx speaks of the 'annihilation of space by time'. These ideas created the theory of time-space compression. David Harvey, 1989 1 The Annihilation of Space by Time The expansion of the railway network, accompanied by the advent of the telegraph, the growth of steam shipping, and the building of the Suez Canal, the beginnings of radio communication and bicycle and automobile travel at the end of the century, all changed the sense of time and space in radical ways. However, with the rise of jet planes, internet communication, and cheaper travel, it has become much easier (and faster) to be connected with faraway places. The world isn't physically getting smaller. With the increase of flows of capital, goods and people, as well as the advancements in technology and transport, our world is seemingly shrinking. But how exactly do we define time-space compression?Īs a result of globalisation, our world is becoming more interconnected. Time-space compression is just one of the many concepts used to explain our changing world. Examples include distance, location, scale, distribution etc.

Spatial concepts help us to understand our relationships with places or objects. Time-space compression is a geographical spatial concept. But what exactly is the definition of time-space compression? What are the disadvantages of it? Is it important in today's world? Let's find out.

These are textbook examples of the geographical theory of time-space compression. You can now call someone on the other side of the world in live time, rather than wait a week for a letter to find its way there. Now, you can take a commercial flight and be there within 24 hours. From the UK to Australia, it would take you many months to do so. In the 19th century, to get from one side of the world to the other, you'd travel by boat.

Doreen massey opinion time space compression