The Geopolitics of Spectacle: Space, Synecdoche, and the New Capitals of Asia

Natalie Koch

ISBN 10: 1501720910 / ISBN 13: 9781501720918

Published by Cornell University Press, 2018

About this Item

2018. Hardcover. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9781501720918

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Geopolitics of Spectacle: Space, Synecdoche, and the New Capitals of Asia
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1501720910
• ISBN 13: 9781501720918
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Why do autocrats build spectacular new capital cities? In The Geopolitics of Spectacle, Natalie Koch considers how autocratic rulers use "spectacular" projects to shape state-society relations, but rather than focus on the standard approach―on the project itself―she considers the unspectacular "others." The contrasting views of those from the poorest regions toward these new national capitals help her develop a geographic approach to spectacle.

Koch uses Astana in Kazakhstan to exemplify her argument, comparing that spectacular city with others from resource-rich, nondemocratic nations in central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Southeast Asia. The Geopolitics of Spectacle draws new political-geographic lessons and shows that these spectacles can be understood only from multiple viewpoints, sites, and temporalities. Koch explicitly theorizes spectacle geographically and in so doing extends the analysis of governmentality into new empirical and theoretical terrain.

With cases ranging from Azerbaijan to Qatar and Myanmar, and an intriguing account of reactions to the new capital of Astana from the poverty-stricken Aral Sea region of Kazakhstan, Koch's book provides food for thought for readers in human geography, anthropology, sociology, urban studies, political science, international affairs, and post-Soviet and central Asian studies.

About the Author

Natalie Koch is Associate Professor of Geography in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. She has published numerous articles in journals such as Political Geography, Central Asian Survey, IJMES, and Geoforum.