Chasing Dragons

Lecturing In The Digital Age

One of the nice things about lecturing at Newcastle University is that there has been a considerable amount of effort and resources dedicated over the past few years towards updating lecture theaters with the latest in presentation technology. This has really opened up the possibilities for the creative inclusion of a range of AV material that is freely available over the internet.

The value of good video or audio clips, interviews, or visual artifacts goes well beyond their ability to break-up a lecture--after all, I know that even I don't want to hear my voice outlining the debates over how to understand empire for an hour! Rather, AV materials allow students to see the practical application of concepts, theories, and arguments presented in very accessible formats. Moreover,--at least according to feedback that I've received--being able to experience module material in various mediums makes it seem more tangible to my students. 

For example, it's amazing how the Pinky Show is able to clearly and cogently present a perspective on globalization in a 3 minute clip that takes weeks to build up to in my class on Critical International Politics. But by combining it with more traditional forms of pedagogy (e.g., reading, discussing, writing, thinking), things like the Pinky Show can make complex theoretical arguments a little less intimidating. Thus, when used prudentially, AV materials archived on the internet are an important and pedagogically powerful addition to the contemporary university learning environment.

Politics Lectureship at Newcastle University

Lecturer Politics

Newcastle University - School of Geography, Politics & Sociology

Ref B270A (GPS)

Faculty/Services Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Job Type Academic (non-clinical)

Hours of Work Full time

Salary:  £31,513 - £35,469

Closing Date: 27 November 2009

Applications are invited for a Lectureship in Politics, based in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology. You will join a Politics unit that possesses a vibrant research culture and was a very strong performer in the 2008 RAE. Applications are welcome from candidates with an excellent record of published research or outstanding research potential in the politics of specific countries and regions. Applications are particularly welcome from specialists in the politics of Africa, Britain, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia or South Asia. You will be expected to contribute to the School's undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes; and will also participate in the supervision of the School's large body of research postgraduates.

Informal enquiries may be made to the Head of Politics, Prof. William Maloney, (tel: +44 (0)191 222 5289; email william.maloney@ncl.ac.uk. The School's web site can be viewed at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/gps/.

Information on Politics can be found at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/gps/about/politics/.

To Apply please click here.

Canadian Foreign Policy In Critical Perspective

Studying Canadian foreign policy is a fascinating way to explore how a country often described as 'progressive' or even 'nice' actually contributes to the explicit maintenance of the status quo--and its resulting inequalities-- in global politics. Similarly, it also demonstrates how states like Canada use a positive image cultivated on the global stage to preserve domestic relations of hegemony that over-reward status quo interests.

Canadian Foreign Policy in Critical Perspective edited by J. Marshall Beier and Lana Wylie--both of McMaster University-- and published by Oxford University Press is one of the first volumes to analyze these dynamics in a systematic way. It draws upon a range of scholars and approaches to reveal and to challenge the often unstated assumptions about what Canadian foreign policy entails and means. In doing so, the contributing chapters reveal the relations of power underpinning and produced by Canadian foreign policy and the political role that it plays in constructing notions of Canadian national identity.

I was really honoured to have been asked by Marshall and Lana to contribute a chapter to this volume. It is called 'Clandestine Convergence: Human Security, Power, and Canadian Foreign Policy' and I examine how the human security debate that dominated discussions of Canadian foreign policy for a decade (1997-2006) fostered a shared set of assumptions whose political consequence was to drain any trace of progressive potential from Canada's human security agenda.

Anyhow, the entire volume will be of interest to those who want to learn more about Canadian foreign policy or anyone who is teaching courses on Canadian foreign policy and/or comparative foreign policy analysis.

Weekend Reading Roundup v. 24

In this weekend's reading roundup:

• 'Marge Simpson poses naked for Playboy--but what would Lisa think?' by Dr. Sarah Churchwell at www.guardian.co.uk

• 'Confronting organised violence in and against the city: what do current trends in urban securitisation tell us about how climate change violence might be addressed?' by Dr. Martin Coward at his blog (a great resource for critical thinking about urbanization, security, and the future of conflict).

• 'Lies, damn lies and counterinsurgency benchmarks' by Carlos Lozada at www.washingtonpost.com (great insight into how the beltway elite is framing the measurement of 'success' in Afghanistan)

• 'When ancient artifacts become political pawns' by Michael Kimmelman at the New York Times

Enjoy the weekend!

Photo credit: Richard0

Images From the Global Drug War

The Big Picture over at the Boston Globe has archived a harrowing, provocative, and unsettling collection of images that offer a powerful glimpse of the human costs of a global drug war that celebrates--by even the most generous measures--a century of failure this year.

As the archive shows, the war on drugs has no geographic boundaries. Its myriad operations can be found in urban mega-cities as well as pastoral remotes, forming a global para-military response that is unprecedented in its cultural and institutional entrenchment. 

And while some of the photos present themselves as morality plays--whether that was the intention of the photographer or not--they all help to convey a sense of the contradictory feelings --hopelessness, misery, pride, accomplishment, numbness, and fatigue--engendered by the global drug war.

Thanks to the folks at Transform for the link!

iWatch, iSpy, iInform

A former colonel in the counter-intelligence wing of the East German Ministry for State Security--or Stasi--once estimated that regular informers and irregular stool pigeons numbered in the area of 2 million people at any given time. And this was for a total population of approximately 17 million people!

Given the prevalence of informants and the frequency with which they reported anything considered to be suspicious, many argue that the culture of fear cultivated through the Stasi's institutionalization of the practice was one of the most oppressive systems of authoritarian control implemented in human history.

So, why is the US government borrowing from the Stasi playbook in its recent public service campaign for iWatch, a system that allows citizens to inform on their neighbours, friends, acquaintances, and 'others' who they suspect may be engaged in activities related to terrorism? 

And isn't the whole close-up, soft music, 'gee shucks, I love my family', aspect of the advert: a) reminiscent of a life insurance commercial and b) really creepy?

It also bears noting that previous incarnations of these citizen surveillance programs--like Highway Watch-- have been completely counter-productive because they flood the intelligence system with low quality misinformation that adds to the already overwhelming amount of data that needs to be analyzed and verified. So, if the American government wished to implement a credible counter-terrorism strategy, it might want to begin by actually reducing the amount of data they collect and improving the way in which collected intelligence is analyzed. But, if generating fear is the goal, then iWatch may prove to be a winner...

P.S. this just needs to be asked: what does terrorism smell like exactly?

Thanks to Mark Frauenfelder at boingboing.net for the link!

Cold War Propaganda From Behind the Iron Curtain

Over at English Russia, they have a superb archive of Soviet era propaganda posters. From 'Capitalists of the World Unite' (above) to expressions of solidarity with the peoples of Vietnam and Chile (below), the posters provide a compelling glimpse of one of the ways in which authorities attempted to shape political socialization, attach meanings to international events, and maintain hegemony behind the iron curtain.

Weekend Reading Roundup v. 23

This weekend in the reading roundup:

• 'Foucault vs. Scull. Again' Jeremy Crampton dishes out the latest in the ongoing saga at the Foucault Blog

• 'Who cleans up city fun?' asks Lisa Wade at the Sociological Images blog

• and check out the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (thanks to Peter Brook at the always awesome Prison Photography for the link!)

Photo credit: aussiegall

Taser International Says Don't Aim For the Chest!

The Toronto Star has reported that police forces across Canada are changing how they use tasers after being warned by the weapon's manufacturer--Taser International--that 'it's no longer advisable to aim the conducted energy weapon...at a target's chest area to avoid impact to the heart.'

Could this be a sign that mounting medical concern from the American Medical Association and human rights organizations about the 'safety' of tasers are finally getting to Taser International? Might this be the beginning of an admission that tasers are not as 'safe' as has been claimed?

Well given the strident position taken by company representatives at the public inquiry into the 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport--he died after being tasered multiple times by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police--contrition is still a long way away. The argument being forwarded by Taser International is that multiple factors contribute to any death. Therefore, they believe that it is factually incorrect to say that tasers killed Mr. Dziekanski--or any of the other 400+ deaths in which the use of a taser occurred.

This argument is rich. Following its line to the logical conclusions, guns don't facilitate killing either. It would be people, or bullets, or blood loss, or organ damage, or the laws of physics...

Thus, a change in tack is called for those of us who are wary about the increasing use of tasers and its designation as a 'less than lethal' weapon. It is time to shift the burden of proof.  Taser International should be required to provide independent, definitive, and unequivocal research findings--as designated by highest standards of medical research--that the weapon has no immediate, medium, or long term effects on the health and well-being of those who are tasered. If this was the standard, Taser International's sophistry would be rendered ineffective.

Photo credit: publik15

Ireland Through England's Imperial Gaze

The BBC Today show reports that the National Archive has made available electronic versions of its collection of early Irish maps drafted during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Beyond historical curiosity, the 'State Papers Collection' (c1558-c.1610) demonstrates how Ireland as a territory was invested with meanings through cartographic representations shaped by an English imperial vision of what Ireland was, what it needed to be, and how to best go about capitalizing on its assets.

As Gearoid O Tuathail (1996) has noted in his book Critical Geopolitics:

• Maps were...a crucial part of the technical infrastructure necessary for the plantation and governance of a space seized by the English Crown. Without maps, Ireland was an illegible surface to English planners and administrators, a disorientating space that was not yet a territory. The function of cartography was to transform seized space into a legible, ordered imperial territory...Together with private adventurers and colonial entrepreneurs, colonial administrators...elaborated plans to make Ireland a "razed table" upon which the Elizabethan state could transcribe a neat territorial pattern. In doing so, they invented "Ireland" as a geographical and discursive identity...Descriptions of the physical landscape were inseparable from governmental, commercial, and moral discourses...Ireland was a wild feminine land awaiting cultivation, a virgin territory in need of husbandry (4-5) 

Thus, both the archive and the work of political geographers like O Tuathail draw our attention to how  cartography is highly political and shaped by relations of power that sanction some forms of activity while foreclosing on others.

A special thanks to Susan Killick for forwarding me the link!