Between dependency and engagement : Centring subaltern geopolitics in multiperspectival border studies. Lessons from the Western Sahara
(2021) In Political Geography 89.- Abstract
Contributing to the growing interest in multiperspectival border studies, this article advocates for a re-centring of subaltern geopolitics in the debate. Focusing empirically on Morocco's diplomatic dispute with the EU over the application of trade agreements to the Western Sahara (2015–2019), the analysis considers the geopolitical bordering of the controversy through the concepts of dependency and engagement to explain how the disputed territory both structured Morocco's disadvantageous relationship to the EU, while also giving rise to material and symbolic possibilities for the state leadership to subvert these geopolitical asymmetries in the late 2010s. The events are theorised through the combined lenses of critical border... (More)
Contributing to the growing interest in multiperspectival border studies, this article advocates for a re-centring of subaltern geopolitics in the debate. Focusing empirically on Morocco's diplomatic dispute with the EU over the application of trade agreements to the Western Sahara (2015–2019), the analysis considers the geopolitical bordering of the controversy through the concepts of dependency and engagement to explain how the disputed territory both structured Morocco's disadvantageous relationship to the EU, while also giving rise to material and symbolic possibilities for the state leadership to subvert these geopolitical asymmetries in the late 2010s. The events are theorised through the combined lenses of critical border studies, subaltern geopolitics, and the politics of space to bring two complementary insights to the fore: (i) to insist that multiperspectival approaches account for the uneven landscape of borders, and the entities that act upon, animate, and transform geopolitical affairs from outside the dominant nodes of power and knowledge; conversely (ii) to destabilize prevailing binaries of geopolitical marginality and centrality through a reading of borders in an irreducibly multiple sense. Together, the analysis demonstrates the value of centring subaltern geopolitics in emerging debates on border multiplicity in the field today, while also avoiding the tendency to reinforce the spectacle of the border itself.
(Less)
- author
- Kutz, William LU
- publishing date
- 2021-08
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Borders, European union, Marginality, Multiperspectivalism, Subaltern geopolitics, Western Sahara
- in
- Political Geography
- volume
- 89
- article number
- 102431
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85109197048
- ISSN
- 0962-6298
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102431
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Funding Information: I wish to thank Ilaria Giglioli for her extensive insights and interventions on previous versions of the article. All errors are my own. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
- id
- 1f1807f6-8fe4-4c18-bdaf-6c197ac8d3db
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-09 09:11:52
- date last changed
- 2023-08-22 15:46:23
@article{1f1807f6-8fe4-4c18-bdaf-6c197ac8d3db,
abstract = {{<p>Contributing to the growing interest in multiperspectival border studies, this article advocates for a re-centring of subaltern geopolitics in the debate. Focusing empirically on Morocco's diplomatic dispute with the EU over the application of trade agreements to the Western Sahara (2015–2019), the analysis considers the geopolitical bordering of the controversy through the concepts of dependency and engagement to explain how the disputed territory both structured Morocco's disadvantageous relationship to the EU, while also giving rise to material and symbolic possibilities for the state leadership to subvert these geopolitical asymmetries in the late 2010s. The events are theorised through the combined lenses of critical border studies, subaltern geopolitics, and the politics of space to bring two complementary insights to the fore: (i) to insist that multiperspectival approaches account for the uneven landscape of borders, and the entities that act upon, animate, and transform geopolitical affairs from outside the dominant nodes of power and knowledge; conversely (ii) to destabilize prevailing binaries of geopolitical marginality and centrality through a reading of borders in an irreducibly multiple sense. Together, the analysis demonstrates the value of centring subaltern geopolitics in emerging debates on border multiplicity in the field today, while also avoiding the tendency to reinforce the spectacle of the border itself.</p>}},
author = {{Kutz, William}},
issn = {{0962-6298}},
keywords = {{Borders; European union; Marginality; Multiperspectivalism; Subaltern geopolitics; Western Sahara}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Political Geography}},
title = {{Between dependency and engagement : Centring subaltern geopolitics in multiperspectival border studies. Lessons from the Western Sahara}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102431}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102431}},
volume = {{89}},
year = {{2021}},
}