Observant States: Geopolitics and Visual Culture (International Library of Human Geography, Volume 16)

"Geopolitics is changing. The conduct of war and peace is being transformed by our increasing dependence on visual images and practices. Satellite surveillance, computer games, streaming video, retinal scanning and mobile phone cameras are just some of the technologies that are shaping contemporary geopolitics. From the horrors of 9/11 and Abu Ghraib to the mechanical, mundane functioning of airport biometrics, geopolitical truths are established through a process of visual demonstration. Visual culture has become part of the apparatus of persuasion. "Observant States" brings together leading international authors to explore the developing relationship between geopolitics and visual culture. The result is a definitive contribution to a globally significant, newly emergent field of enquiry. Contributors include: Louise Amoore, Judith Butler, David Campbell, Sean Carter, James Der Derian, Klaus Dodds, Emily Gilbert, Stephen Graham, Rachel Hughes, K. Neil Jenkings, Timothy W. Luke, Fraser MacDonald, Derek P. McCormack, Marcus Power, Alison J. Williams, Trish Winter, and Rachel Woodward."--Bloomsbury publishing. Introduction: Envisioning Geopolitics / Fraser Macdonald, Rachel Hughes And Klaus Dodds -- Imaging Terror: Logos, Pathos And Ethos / James Der Derian -- Torture And The Ethics Of Photography / Judith Butler -- 'not To Be Missed' Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Displaying The Enola Gay / Timothy W. Luke -- Flying The Flag: Pan American Airways And The Projection Of Us Power Across The Interwar Pacific / Alison J. Williams -- Affectivity And Geopolitical Images / Sean Carter And Derek P. Mccormack -- Gameworld Geopolitics And The Genre Of The Quest / Rachel Hughes -- 'i Used To Keep A Camera In My Top Left-hand Pocket': The Photographic Practices Of British Soldiers / Rachel Woodward, Trish Winter And K. Neil Jenkings -- The Scopic Regime Of 'africa' / David Campbell And Marcus Power -- Combat Zones That See: Urban Warfare And Us Military Technology / Stephen Graham -- Eye To Eye: Biometrics, The Observer, The Observed And The Body Politic / Emily Gilbert -- Vigilant Visualities: The Watchful Politics Of The War On Terror / Louis Amoore -- Perpendicular Sublime: Regarding Rocketry And The Cold War / Fraser Macdonald. Edited By Fraser Mcdonald, Rachel Hughes And Klaus Dodds. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Contributors......Page 10 Introduction: Envisioning Geopolitics......Page 12 Part One: Representation......Page 32 1. Imaging Terror: Logos, Pathos and Ethos......Page 34 2. Torture and the Ethics of Photography......Page 52 3. ‘Not to be Missed’ Weapons of Mass Destruction: Displaying the Enola Gay......Page 76 4. Flying the Flag: Pan American Airways and the Projection of US Power Across the Interwar Pacific......Page 92 Part Two: Performance......Page 112 5. Affectivity and Geopolitical Images......Page 114 6. Gameworld Geopolitics and the Genre of the Quest......Page 134 7. ‘I Used to Keep a Camera in My Top Left-Hand Pocket’: The Photographic Practices of British Soldiers......Page 154 8. The Scopic Regime of ‘Africa’......Page 178 Part Three: Observant Practice......Page 208 9. Combat Zones that See: Urban Warfare and US Military Technology......Page 210 10. Eye to Eye: Biometrics, the Observer, the Observed and the Body Politic......Page 236 11. Vigilant Visualities: The Watchful Politics of the War on Terror......Page 258 12. Perpendicular Sublime: Regarding Rocketry and the Cold War......Page 278 Notes......Page 302 Index......Page 310 Geopolitics is changing. The conduct of war and peace is being transformed by our increasing dependence on visual images and practices. Satellite surveillance, computer games, streaming video, retinal scanning and mobile phone cameras are just some of the technologies that are shaping contemporary geopolitics. From the horrors of 9/11 and Abu Ghraib to the mundane functioning of airport biometrics, geopolitical truths are established, and geopolitical realities are enacted, through a process of visual demonstration. Questions of who is eligible to see or be seen, whose details and behaviour can be visually recorded and reproduced are, at the same time, matters of liberty and incarceration, mobility and fixity, citizenship and statelessness. The technologies of representation and observation have become essential military and diplomatic tools: visual culture has become part of the apparatus of persuasion Observant States brings together leading international authors to explore the developing relationship between geopolitics and visual culture. In a perceptive and pioneering work they consider what visuality means, how it is put to work, to what ends and with what technical apparatus. The result is a definitive contribution to a globally significant, newly emergent field of enquiry 'Observant States is one of the best ever collections addressing visual genres and the geopolitics and biopolitics of war. Chapter after chapter, it delivers conceptual innovation and powerful political critique. It's an ideal text to build a course around; I am eager to use it'-Michael Shapiro, Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaii at Manoa Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London. --Book Jacket Fraser MacDonald is a lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh Rachel Hughes is a lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Melbourne