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.
