Category Archives: Science & Tech.

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

A Nation of Workplace Junkies?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Anthropologist Arjun Appadurai recently published a column in Anthropology News on the proliferation of business-related news in U.S. media. He observes the “growing and now hegemonic domination of business news” both in print and on television. The business machine has … Continue reading →

Posted in Critique, Everyday Life, Science & Tech., Spectacle | Comments Off on A Nation of Workplace Junkies?

Cartographic Mexico

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Craib, Raymond. 2004. Cartographic Mexico: A History of State Fixations and Fugitive Landscapes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. I remember my social studies teacher in elementary school using the peel of an orange to show us why most world maps … Continue reading →

Posted in Boundaries, Land, Law, Maps, Michel Foucault, Nation/Nationalism, Place, Post-Colonial, Power, Science & Tech., Spatiality, Territory, The State | Comments Off on Cartographic Mexico

Albion’s Fatal Tree

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Hay, Douglas et al. 1975. Albion’s Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth-Century England. New York: Pantheon Books. In the preface of Albion’s Fatal Tree the authors explain that their main concern is the law in eighteenth century England as … Continue reading →

Posted in Bandits, City, Forests, Hegemony, Historical Materialism, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Marxism, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Primitive Accumulation, Science & Tech., Terror, The Body, The Sea, The State, Violence | 2 Comments

Understories in Northern New Mexico

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Kosek, Jake. 2006. Understories: The Political Life of Forests in Northern New Mexico. Durham: Duke University Press. Jake Kosek’s Understories: The Political Life of Forests in Northern New Mexico is a solid model for the presentation of research. He brilliantly … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Everyday Life, Forests, Frontiers, Governmentality, Historical-Geographies, Land, Law, Michel Foucault, Nation/Nationalism, Place, Political Ecology, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Science & Tech., Spatiality, Territory, The Body, The State, Violence | 1 Comment

Taking the Jungle Out of the Forest

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Peluso, Nancy and Peter Vandergeest. 2011. “Taking the Jungle out of the Forest: Counter-Insurgency and the Making of National Natures.” In Global Political Ecology edited by Richard Peet, Paul Robbins, and Michael Watts. New York: Routledge.  What are the interconnected … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Boundaries, Forests, Frontiers, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Maps, Nation/Nationalism, Political Ecology, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Scale, Science & Tech., Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Comments Off on Taking the Jungle Out of the Forest

The Fate of the Forest

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Hecht, Susanna and Alexander Cockburn. 1989. The Fate of the Forest. London: Verso. The first thing that stands out from Susanna Hecht and Alexander Cockburn’s classic Fate of the Forest is its mesmerizing writing style. The prose effortlessly moves the … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Boundaries, Forests, Frontiers, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Science & Tech., The State, Violence | 2 Comments

Political Ecology, I

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Robbins, Paul. 2004. Political Ecology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Paul Robbins’ Political Ecology offers a sweeping and surprisingly complete overview to this exciting body of work and practice. I like the way Robbins bills it as, more than a body of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Gender, Governmentality, Historical-Geographies, Land, Networks, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Science & Tech., The State, Violence | 3 Comments

Caliban and the Witch

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Federici, Silvia. 2004. Caliban and the Witch: Women, The Body, and Primitive Accumulation. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia. It’s become almost cliché to say that taking into account gender—and other forms of social difference—makes a real difference for how we build our … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Gender, Historical Materialism, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Karl Marx, Land, Law, Marxism, Political Economy, Primitive Accumulation, Race & Ethnicity, Science & Tech., The Body, The State, Violence | 2 Comments

Seeing Like a State

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Scott, James. 1998. Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed. New Haven: Yale University Press. I can see why James C. Scott’s book has been such a generative work, even if there’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Assemblages, City, Forests, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Law, Maps, Nation/Nationalism, Place, Power, Science & Tech., Spatiality, Violence | 2 Comments