Power geometry, according to Doreen Massey, is how the time–space compression of 'globalization' affects people differently. Therefore, a wholesale embracing or rejection of the processes linked with globalization fails to recognize what she has termed 'power-geometry'.
Massey discusses power geometry in her article "A Global Sense of Space," published in the June 1991 issue of Marxism Today. She describes power geometry as the "very distinct ways in relations to [the] flow and interconnections" between different social groups and different individuals.
According to Massey, power geometry concerns not only the issue of who moves and who doesn't; it is also "about power in relation to the flows and the movement" are distinct relationships among different social groups in regards to mobility. Those who move freely have power. On one hand there are groups who are in charge of time-space compression and use it to their advantage, and on the other hand there are people who are disenfranchised by the power geometry and mobility of other groups. At the same time, Massey writes, there are other groups who are doing a lot of physical moving, but are not 'in charge' of the process in the same way.
An example Massey gives of power geometry at play in the time-space compression of globalization is the people who live in the favelas of Rio. These people know Football (soccer), have produced some of the world's best players, and have contributed to global music and dance with the creation of Samba and the Lambada. While the people of Rio have contributed so much to the time-space compression, they are "imprisoned in it".
Note
Massey, D. (1993) 'Power-geometry and a progressive sense of place', in J. Bird, B. Curtis, T. Putnam, G. Robertson and L. Tickner (eds) Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change, London: Routledge, pp. 59–69.