“Subjects of Change”: Feminist Geopolitics and Gendered Truth-Telling in Guatemala

This paper explores the often-undervalued role of gender in transitional justice mechanisms and the importance of women’s struggles and agency in that regard. We focus on the efforts of the women’s movement in Guatemala to address questions of justice and healing for survivors of gendered violence during Guatemala’s 36-year internal armed conflict. We discuss how the initial transitional justice measures of documenting gendered war crimes in the context of a genocide were subsequently taken up by the women’s movement and how their endeavors to further expose sexual violence have resulted in notable interventions. Interviews with key organizational activists as well as testimonies given by victims of sexual violence during the conflict suggest that transitional justice mechanisms, extended by women’s movements’ efforts, are creating conditions for the emergence of new practices and spaces that support the fragile cultivation of new subjectivities. Sujetas de cambio (subjects of change) are premised not on victimhood but survivorhood. The emergence of these new subjectivities and new claims, including greater personal security and freedom from everyday violence, must be approached with caution, however, as they are not born automatically out of the deeply emotional struggles that play out around historical memory. Still, their emergence suggests new ways for women to cope not only with the sexual violence of the past but also to work against the normative violence that is part of their present

Encontres glacials: una geopolítica feminista sobre el canvi climàtic

El canvi climàtic exigeix que repensem l'ordre polític global desenvolupant una formulació i una pràctica de la geopolítica que prengui seriosament el dinamisme dels sistemes de la Terra i els seus efectes diferencials. Es tracta d'una geopolítica que no només requereix que repensem el que constitueix el geo sinó que repensem també què es fa i en què consisteix la política. Mitjançant estudis de cas extrets de l'organització artística britànica sobre el canvi climàtic, Cape Farewell, i en concret dels seus viatges per l'Àrtic, analitzem la manera com les pràctiques geoestètiques ofereixen una via per experimentar amb la manera de pensar sobre una reformulació geopolítica com aquesta. Per tal d'aprofundir en aquest argument, acostem la recerca contemporània sobre la geopolítica dels elements a una obra més àmplia l'objectiu de la qual és re-formular el geo com a força política. Si ens prenem seriosament els reptes múltiples que aquesta proposta planteja pel que fa als mètodes, a les concepcions de la política d'allò que és intra i inhumà, i a les composicions de les relacions corporals, anem cap als estudis geopolítics feministes en què els cossos –humans i no humans– són un indret geopolític important. Experimentant amb la geoestètica com a eina per pensar i sentir, no argumentem que la geopolítica feminista del canvi climàtic que proposem sigui l'única geopolítica feminista possible; ni tampoc tenim totes les respostes als problemes que planteja el fet de prendre's seriosament el geo dins de la formulació de la geopolítica. No obstant això, sí que ofereix un punt de partida productiu i provocatiu per començar a crear una geopolítica adient als reptes del canvi climàtic.Climate change requires that we rethink the global order of politics by developing a formulation and practice of geopolitics that takes seriously the dynamism of earth's systems and their differential effects. This is a geopolitics that not only demands we rethink what constitutes the ‘geo' but also that we rethink how we understand what ‘politics' is, does and consists of. Using case studies drawn from the UK climate change arts organization Cape Farewell, and in particular their Arctic voyages, I explore how geoaesthetic practices offer a way to experiment with thinking such a geopolitical reformulation. In order to advance this contention, I draw contemporary scholarship on elemental geopolitics together with broader work that aims to reframe the ‘geo' as a political force. Taking seriously the manifold challenges that such a proposition poses to methods, to understandings of the politics of the intra and inhuman, and to compositions of bodily relations, I turn to feminist geopolitical scholarship where bodies –human and non-human– are an important geopolitical site. Experimenting with geoaesthetics as tools to think and feel with, I don't claim that the feminist ‘geo'politics of climate change proposed is the only possible feminist geopolitics, nor does it have all the answers to the problems posed by taking seriously the ‘geo' within formulations of geopolitics. It does however; offer a productive and provocative place from which to begin to create geopolitics adequate to the challenges of climate change.El cambio climático exige repensar el orden político global desarrollando una formulación y una práctica de la geopolítica que tome en serio el dinamismo de los sistemas de la Tierra y sus efectos diferenciales. Se trata de una geopolítica que no sólo requiere repensar lo que constituye el geo sino repensar también que se hace y en qué consiste la política. Mediante estudios de caso extraídos de la organización artística británica sobre el cambio climático, Cape Farewell, y en concreto de sus viajes por el Ártico, analizamos la forma en que las prácticas geoestètiques ofrecen una vía para experimentar con la forma de pensar sobre una reformulación geopolítica como ésta. Para profundizar en este argumento, acercamos la investigación contemporánea sobre la geopolítica de los elementos a una obra más amplia el objetivo es re-formular el geo como fuerza política. Si nos tomamos en serio los retos múltiples que esta propuesta plantea en cuanto a los métodos, a las concepciones de la política de lo intra e inhumano, y en las composiciones de las relaciones corporales, vamos hacia los estudios geopolíticos feministas en que los cuerpos –humanos y no humanos– son un lugar geopolítico importante. Experimentando con la geoestètica como herramienta para pensar y sentir, no argumentamos que la geopolítica feminista del cambio climático que proponemos sea la única geopolítica feminista posible; ni tampoco tenemos todas las respuestas a los problemas que plantea el hecho de tomar en serio el geo dentro de la formulación de la geopolítica. Sin embargo, sí que ofrece un punto de partida productivo y provocativo para empezar a crear una geopolítica adecuada a los retos del cambio climático

Political geographies of the object

This paper examines the role of objects in the constitution and exercise of state power, drawing on a close reading of the acclaimed HBO television series The Wire, an unconventional crime drama set and shot in Baltimore, Maryland. While political geography increasingly recognizes the prosaic and intimate practices of stateness, we argue that objects themselves are central to the production, organization, and performance of state power. Specifically, we analyze how three prominent objects on The Wire—wiretaps, cameras, and standardized tests—arrange and produce the conditions we understand as ‘stateness’. Drawing on object-oriented philosophy, we offer a methodology of power that suggests it is generalized force relations rather than specifically social relations that police a population—without, of course, ever being able to fully capture it. We conclude by suggesting The Wire itself is an object of force, and explore the implications of an object-oriented approach for understanding the nature of power, and for political geography more broadly

Certifications of citizenship: the history, politics and materiality of identity documents in South Asian states and diasporas

Experiences in the post-partition Indian subcontinent refute the conventional expectation that the 'possession of citizenship enables the acquisition of documents certifying it' (Jayal, 2013, 71). Instead, identity papers of various types play a vital part in certifying and authenticating claims to citizenship. This is particularly important in a context where the history of state formation, continuous migration flows and the rise of right-wing majoritarian politics has created an uncertain situation for individuals deemed to be on the ‘margins’ of the state. The papers that constitute this special issue bring together a range of disciplinary perspectives in order to investigate the history, politics and materiality of identity documents, and to dismantle citizenship as an absolute and fixed notion, seeking instead to theorise the very mutable ‘hierarchies’ and ‘degrees’ of citizenship. Collectively they offer a valuable lens onto how migrants, refugees and socio-economically marginal individuals negotiate their relationship with the state, both within South Asia and in South Asian diaspora communities. This introduction examines the wider context of the complex intersections between state-issued identity documents and the nature of citizenship and draws out cross-cutting themes across the papers in this collection

Prevalence and Evolution of Core Photosystem II Genes in Marine Cyanobacterial Viruses and Their Hosts

Cyanophages (cyanobacterial viruses) are important agents of horizontal gene transfer among marine cyanobacteria, the numerically dominant photosynthetic organisms in the oceans. Some cyanophage genomes carry and express host-like photosynthesis genes, presumably to augment the host photosynthetic machinery during infection. To study the prevalence and evolutionary dynamics of this phenomenon, 33 cultured cyanophages of known family and host range and viral DNA from field samples were screened for the presence of two core photosystem reaction center genes, psbA and psbD. Combining this expanded dataset with published data for nine other cyanophages, we found that 88% of the phage genomes contain psbA, and 50% contain both psbA and psbD. The psbA gene was found in all myoviruses and Prochlorococcus podoviruses, but could not be amplified from Prochlorococcus siphoviruses or Synechococcus podoviruses. Nearly all of the phages that encoded both psbA and psbD had broad host ranges. We speculate that the presence or absence of psbA in a phage genome may be determined by the length of the latent period of infection. Whether it also carries psbD may reflect constraints on coupling of viral- and host-encoded PsbA–PsbD in the photosynthetic reaction center across divergent hosts. Phylogenetic clustering patterns of these genes from cultured phages suggest that whole genes have been transferred from host to phage in a discrete number of events over the course of evolution (four for psbA, and two for psbD), followed by horizontal and vertical transfer between cyanophages. Clustering patterns of psbA and psbD from Synechococcus cells were inconsistent with other molecular phylogenetic markers, suggesting genetic exchanges involving Synechococcus lineages. Signatures of intragenic recombination, detected within the cyanophage gene pool as well as between hosts and phages in both directions, support this hypothesis. The analysis of cyanophage psbA and psbD genes from field populations revealed significant sequence diversity, much of which is represented in our cultured isolates. Collectively, these findings show that photosynthesis genes are common in cyanophages and that significant genetic exchanges occur from host to phage, phage to host, and within the phage gene pool. This generates genetic diversity among the phage, which serves as a reservoir for their hosts, and in turn influences photosystem evolution

Three Prochlorococcus cyanophage genomes : signature features and ecological interpretations

© 2005 Sullivan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The definitive version was published in PLoS Biology 3 (2005): e144, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030144.The oceanic cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus are globally important, ecologically diverse primary producers. It is thought that their viruses (phages) mediate population sizes and affect the evolutionary trajectories of their hosts. Here we present an analysis of genomes from three Prochlorococcus phages: a podovirus and two myoviruses. The morphology, overall genome features, and gene content of these phages suggest that they are quite similar to T7-like (P-SSP7) and T4-like (P-SSM2 and P-SSM4) phages. Using the existing phage taxonomic framework as a guideline, we examined genome sequences to establish ‘‘core’’ genes for each phage group. We found the podovirus contained 15 of 26 core T7-like genes and the two myoviruses contained 43 and 42 of 75 core T4-like genes. In addition to these core genes, each genome contains a significant number of ‘‘cyanobacterial’’ genes, i.e., genes with significant best BLAST hits to genes found in cyanobacteria. Some of these, we speculate, represent ‘‘signature’’ cyanophage genes. For example, all three phage genomes contain photosynthetic genes (psbA, hliP) that are thought to help maintain host photosynthetic activity during infection, as well as an aldolase family gene (talC) that could facilitate alternative routes of carbon metabolism during infection. The podovirus genome also contains an integrase gene (int) and other features that suggest it is capable of integrating into its host. If indeed it is, this would be unprecedented among cultured T7-like phages or marine cyanophages and would have significant evolutionary and ecological implications for phage and host. Further, both myoviruses contain phosphate-inducible genes (phoH and pstS) that are likely to be important for phage and host responses to phosphate stress, a commonly limiting nutrient in marine systems. Thus, these marine cyanophages appear to be variations of two well-known phages—T7 and T4—but contain genes that, if functional, reflect adaptations for infection of photosynthetic hosts in low-nutrient oceanic environments.This research was supported by the US DOE under grant numbers DEFG02– 99ER62814 and DE-FG02–02ER63445, and the National Science Foundation under grant number OCE-9820035 (to SWC)