The Glasgow School of Art

Stephen Graham
'Dreams of Omniscience: Urbanization & the US Revolution in Military Affairs' watch video

This lecture explores the ways in which US military discourse and technology are being 're-scaled' from globe-spanning efforts at power projection, to attempts at using high-technology to control the streets and spaces of the 'Developing' World's burgeoning cities. Through a comprehensive examination of what might be termed the 'urban turn' in US military strategy, the latest dreams of military omniscience emerging from the Pentagon will be examined and related to long-standing Orientalist tropes. In the light of the disastrous urban insurgencies in Iraq's cities, the lecture will conclude by drawing out political implications for contemporary urban life from these emerging military discourses, technologies and doctrine. Particular emphasis will be placed on the risks of a dramatic upsurge in the militarisation of urban life in both the Global North and South, as cities in both parts of the world are imagined as the key 'battlespaces' of the 21st century.

Stephen Graham is Professor of Human Geography at Durham University.  He has a background in urbanism, planning and the sociology of technology. His research addresses the intersections of urban places, mobilities, technology, war, surveillance and geopolitics. His books include 'Telecommunications and the City', 'Splintering Urbanism', the 'Cybercities Reader' and 'Cities, War and Terrorism.' His next book will be 'Cities Under Siege:  The new Military Urbanism'.

Hosted by The School of Fine Art, The Friday Event Lecture Series is The Glasgow School of Art's flagship public lecture series, and brings major international speakers (including artists, architects, designers, historians and cultural theorists) to the city of Glasgow.