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ID:
178060
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper engages with the (geo)political imaginaries of the Space Shuttle mission patches, through a consideration of the iconography they contain. Each Space Shuttle mission had a unique patch designed to represent the mission, which were typically worn on the arm of astronauts’ space suits. Drawing on visual methodologies and popular geopolitics, this paper critically engages with the patches’ iconography, their descriptions in official documentation, and the histories that frame their production. In doing so, this paper advances three interrelated arguments. First, that the mission patches of the Space Shuttle programme presented a uniquely American framing of outer space in their iconography and can thus be read as geopolitical texts. Second, that the iconography within the patches reflected the contemporary geopolitics of their time of production, but continued to subtly demonstrate American dominance in outer space. Finally, that the consumption of the patches in museums and through popular culture assist in the construction of American Manifest Destiny in outer space. This paper presents tangible examples of humanity’s engagement with outer space through the production of material cultures, while also pushing forward the agenda for further critical geographical engagement with outer space.
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| 2 |
ID:
172518
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article maps the specific ways in which gendered and racialized boundary constructs create conditions of possibility for certain bordering practices. Connecting Critical Border Studies with feminist theories of geopolitics, it examines media reporting in Russia and Sweden about “migrants‘ sexual violence” in the wake of the 2015 New Years‘ events in Cologne. Despite contextual differences, in both countries these events were narrated as symbolic in negotiating Europe and its borders. In Russia, the events were connected to a story of a Russian girl in Berlin being raped by migrants (a story later revealed to be fabricated) and a narrative of Europe collapsing because of immigration. In Sweden, the events were connected to reports of sexual violence at festivals, sparking a debate about “Swedish values” of gender equality being endangered by immigration. The article argues, firstly, that narratives of migrants‘ sexual violence performed bordering functions in both the symbolic sense of delineating national identity and Europeanness, and the concrete sense of legitimating a stricter border regime. Secondly, it argues that the narratives performed that function only by tapping into local geopolitical narratives, in the Russian case on the country‘s ambivalent relation to Europe, and in Sweden the idea of gender exceptionalism.
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