Visions of Empire (Traditional Geopolitics and Imperial Visions)

Question 1

What does Kearns (2009) argue?

Answer 1

Kearns (2009) argues traditional geopolitics serves imperialism very well, making the projection of force seem not only natural, but unavoidable.

Question 2

What are the three central features of Mackinder’s Imperial Vision?

Answer 2

1) The environment shapes cultural identity in ways that produce a world that is a patchwork of mutually hostile peoples.
2) International relations are based on force (realist)
3) Britain is a special kind of imperial power, driven by a defensive desire to spread freedom and democracy.

Question 3

How does a neo-darwinian account relate to Mackinders views?

Answer 3

Mackinder’s views, the Heartland thesis, are considered the starting point of traditional geopolitics. Viewing international relations as a conflict between rival races, it supports the basis of environmental determinism.

Question 4

How can the age of Imperialism/Empire be categorised?

Answer 4

The first empire (1497-1783)
The second empire (1785-1924)
The Scramble for Africa (1881-1919)

Question 5

What example from popular culture coincides with the Imperial Vision of the British empire?

Answer 5

Biggles.

Question 6

What does Kirby (2000) argue?

Answer 6

Kirby argues that Biggles, a children’s adventure story popular during the Age of Empire both represented and shaped geopolitical reality significantly.

Question 7

How does Kirby (2000) write about Biggles representing Empire/Traditional geopolitics?

Answer 7

1) Encirclement of Britain by enemies
2) Reflection of geopolitical significance of the Heartland
3) Erasure: exotic locations as a backdrop, British explorer as having sole agency
4) Inversion: Reflects danger coming towards Britain (connected with technology)

Question 8

How does Kirby (2000) write about Biggles having agency in Empire/Traditional geopolitics?

Answer 8

1) Creates a popular sense of imminent danger
2) Reflected sentiments in the more formal geophysical reasoning
3) Erasure/Absence created a sense these were blank spaces (Terra Icognita/Terra Nullius)

Question 9

Another example from popular culture coincides with the Imperial Vision of the British empire?

Answer 9

Photography, Cinema and 1930s Empire Films in Hollywood. (Chapman and Cull, 2009). These films glorified the empire’s military endeavours, glossing over the harsh realities of colonial rule.

Question 10

How did empire films of the 1930s, connect with imperial visions?

Answer 10

1930s empire films saw the romanticisation of colonial adventures and the exotic fetish of the empire, particularly by Hollywood. The focus in these films was on British colonial ambassadors travelling through exotic places, which assumed the background.

Question 11

What do Chapman and Cull (2009) argue?

Answer 11

Chapman and Cull (2009) argue that film serve as windows into the times in which they were made, reflecting changing attitudes towards imperialism.

Question 12

Another example from popular culture which connects with imperial visions and age of empires.

Answer 12

The National Geographic, US Magazine. In particular, the magazine put differences into a hierarchy sustaining support for colonialism, neo-colonialism, neo-imperialism, and neoliberalism (Mosely, 2018).

Question 13

How did popular culture also exist with geopolitics?

Answer 13

More radical geopolitics transpired into culture challenging imperial representations.

Question 14

Provide an example of how popular culture also resisted colonial/imperial visions?

Answer 14

Inspired by alternate geopolitical thought from Kropoktin, Hobson and French Geography (disconnecting geopolitics from Nazi history).

Question 15

What is the orign of alternate geopolitical visions that challenge imperial representations?

Answer 15

Inspired by alternate geopolitical thought from Kropoktin (Lamarckian perspective - cooperaton), Hobson (early discourse analysis, language used to veil realities) and French Geography (disconnecting geopolitics from Nazi history).

Question 16

Provide an example of culture expressing alternate perspectives of imperialism/empire:

Answer 16

H.G. Wells, anti-imperial sentiment - War of the Worlds (1898).

Question 17

What does Lindqvist (1996) argue?

Answer 17

Lindqvist (1996) argues that through allegory, H.G. Wells equates the actions of aliens to the imperial actions of Britain in Tasmania.

Question 18

What does Dittmar and Bos (2019) argue?

Answer 18

Dittmer and Bos (2019) discuss representation of place within the context of the British Empire. They are enlightenment-era ideologies that underpinned the empire often involved portraying places and their inhabitants as fundamentally different from those at the imperial core. This representation, especially concerning race, is pivotal in understanding the justifications used for the treatment of people in colonized regions.

Question 19

What do Campbell and Power (2010) argue?

Answer 19

Stemming from the expansion in site and sight of critical geopolitics, Campbell and Power (2010) critically examine the practices of visual representation that shape the perception of Africa in the global context. Existing as part of the critique of textual analysis, they argue these practices, referred to as a ‘scope regime’, consist of representational techniques that often depict Africa through a lens of stereotypes and simplifications. In particular, from natural history museums to modern cinema, how the West views and understands the continent, leading to a homogenised and exoticized images of Africa.