A subaltern critical geopolitics of the war on terror: postcolonial security in Tanzania

Sharp, J. (2011) A subaltern critical geopolitics of the war on terror: postcolonial security in Tanzania. Geoforum, 42(3), pp. 297-305. (doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.04.005)

Abstract

Currently, hegemonic geographical imaginations are dominated by the affective geopolitics of the War on Terror, and related security practice is universalised into what has been called ‘‘globalized fear’’ (Pain, 2009). Critical approaches to geopolitics have been attentive to the Westerncentric nature of this imaginary, however, studies of non-Western perceptions of current geopolitics and the nature of fear will help to further displace dominant geopolitical imaginations. Africa, for example, is a continent that is often captured in Western geopolitics – as a site of failed states, the coming anarchy, passive recipient of aid, and so on – but geopolitical representations originating in Africa rarely make much of an impact on political theory. This paper aims to add to critical work on the so-called War on Terror from a perspective emerging from the margins of the dominant geopolitical imagination. It considers the geopolitical imagination of the War on Terror from a non-Western source, newspapers in Tanzania.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Geoforum. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in geoforum, 42,3 (2011)] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.04.005
• Keywords: Critical geopolitics, postcolonialism, Tanzania, popular geopolitics
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sharp, Professor Jo
• Authors: Sharp, J.
• Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Research Group: Human Geography Research Group
• Journal Name: Geoforum
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0016-7185
• ISSN (Online): 1872-9398
• Published Online: 10 June 2011
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2011 Elsevier
• First Published: First published in Geoforum 42(3):297-305
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
50609	1	A subaltern critical geopolitics of the 'war on terror' - postcolonial conceptualisations of security in Tanzania	Joanne Sharp	Carnegie UK Trust (CARNEGIE)	UNSPECIFIED	School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
53302	1	Creating postcolonial subjectivity: subaltern geopolitics, knowledge and citizenship in Tanzania	Joanne Sharp	Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/H041354/1	School of Geographical and Earth Sciences