10 research outputs found
On the coloniality of ânewâ megaâinfrastructure projects in east Africa
This article responds to a preference for shortâterm history in research on the infrastructure turn by engaging with the longue durĂ©e of East Africaâs latest infrastructure scramble. It traces the history of LAPSSET in Kenya and the Central Corridor in Tanzania, revealing the coloniality of new and improved transport infrastructure along both corridors. This exercise demonstrates how the spatial visions and territorial plans of colonial administrators get built in to new infrastructure and materialise in ways that serve the interests of global capital rather than peasant and indigenous peoples being promised more modern, prosperous futures. The article concludes by suggesting that a focus on the longue durĂ©e also reveals uneven patterns of mobility and immobility set in motion during the colonial scramble for Africa and reinforced after independence. These âcolonial mooringsâ are significant as they shape political reactions to new megaâinfrastructure projects today and constrain the emancipatory potential of infrastructureâled development
Social Media, Gender and the Mediatisation of War: Exploring the German Armed Forcesâ Visual Representation of the Afghanistan Operation on Facebook
Studies on the mediatisation of war point to attempts of governments to regulate the visual perspective of their involvements in armed conflict â the most notable example being the practice of âembedded reportingâ in Iraq and Afghanistan. This paper focuses on a different strategy of visual meaning-making, namely, the publication of images on social media by armed forces themselves. Specifically, we argue that the mediatisation of war literature could profit from an increased engagement with feminist research, both within Critical Security/Critical Military Studies and within Science and Technology Studies that highlight the close connection between masculinity, technology and control. The article examines the German military mission in Afghanistan as represented on the German armed forcesâ official Facebook page. Germany constitutes an interesting, and largely neglected, case for the growing literature on the mediatisation of war: its strong antimilitarist political culture makes the representation of war particularly delicate. The paper examines specific representational patterns of Germanyâs involvement in Afghanistan and discusses the implications which arise from what is placed inside the frame of visibility and what remains out of its view