Category Archives: Insurgency/Counterinsurgency

Grassroots Masquerades: ‘Bottom-Up’ Development, Land Laundering, and Frontier State Formation in Colombia

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

My abstract for what’s looking like a symposium-sized AAG session series (including fellow bloggers Stuart Elden and Gastón Gordillo) on “Violence and Space” organized by Simon Springer and Philippe Le Billon: A paramilitary commander in Urabá, a frontier region of northwest Colombia, has always … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Development, Forests, Frontiers, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Peace, Political Ecology, Race & Ethnicity, Security, Spatiality, The State, Violence | Comments Off

Everyday State Formation

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

I have a new article that was just published in the most recent issue of Environment and Planning D: Society and Space titled, “Everyday State Formation: Territory, Decentralization, and the Narco Land-Grab.” The lag between writing and printing, of course, … Continue reading →

Posted in Antonio Gramsci, Development, Drugs, Elites, Everyday Life, Hegemony, Henri Lefebvre, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Karl Marx, Land, Law, Marxism, Primitive Accumulation, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Comments Off

Development-Security Nexus, Part I: And the Drug War…?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

The new issue of Development Dialogue has a great line up of authors and speaks to a lot of issues I’m thinking about. Its main title is “The End of the Development-Security Nexus.” I’ve been reading some of the lit … Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Security | 2 Comments

The Branding of U.S. Development Aid

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

In my journalistic investigations, I’ve given the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) a hard time for negligently funding the agribusinesses of drug-trafficking paramilitaries as part of its anti-drug efforts. Right, it’s like “War on Terror” money going to al-Qaida, … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Art, Drugs, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Media, The State, Violence | Comments Off

The FBI Almost Seized My Emails

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

(Well, sort of, not really.) Yesterday, at 4:00 p.m., the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized a server from a colocation facility shared by Riseup Networks and May First/People Link in New York City. Cooperatively run May First, among other … Continue reading →

Posted in Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Law, Networks, Science & Tech. | Comments Off

Gregory: The Everywhere War

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

A lecture given by Derek Gregory, a geographer at the University of British Columbia, is now online. Gregory discusses “The Everywhere War.” We now live in a world where death can be delivered across vast distances. Political geographer Derek Gregory examines three … Continue reading →

Posted in Boundaries, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Peace, Sovereignty, Territory, Terror, The State, Violence | 2 Comments

Meow: The Politics of Anonymous

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Quinn Norton, a writer with Wired, has published a fascinating three-part series titled, “Anonymous: Beyond the Mask” (Part I, Part II, Part III). She tracks the progressive politicization of Anonymous from its diaper days chatting on 4Chan to #Occupy by … Continue reading →

Posted in #Occupy, Art, Bandits, Critique, Everyday Life, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Law, Networks, Pirates, Science & Tech., Spectacle | 1 Comment

Afflicted Powers

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Retort. 2005. Afflicted Powers: Capital and Spectacle in an Age of War. New Edition. London: Verso. Despite being a relatively short book, Afflicted Powers is a difficult one to summarize. Retort* sets for itself the immodest task of identifying the … Continue reading →

Posted in #Occupy, Everyday Life, Guy Debord, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Peace, Power, Primitive Accumulation, Spectacle, Terror, The State, Violence | Comments Off

Occupy Volume, Occupy Verticality

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

#Occupy. Where does it go from here? How ‘bout up? I’m not 100% serious, but it’s been fascinating to see how #Occupy has expanded occupation to mean more than parking our collective butts on a flat—or at least, horizontal—and usually … Continue reading →

Posted in #Occupy, City, Everyday Life, Henri Lefebvre, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Power, Spatiality, The State, Violence | 6 Comments

The Mask of ‘Anarchy’

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

An article by Jonathan Jones in the Guardian has been making the rounds and offers some interesting commentary on the proliferation of the V for Vendetta mask at recent #Occupy protests. Coming on the heels of the Oakland General Strike, … Continue reading →

Posted in #Occupy, Bandits, City, Everyday Life, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Law, Networks, Pirates, Power, Spectacle, The State, Violence | 5 Comments