Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

Political

Geography, Vol. 15, No. 6i7, pp. 505-531, 1996 Copyright 0 1996 Ekvier Science Ltd tinted in Great Britain. All ri,ehts reserved 0962-6298/96 $-MM + 0.00

So%2-6298(%)00029-7

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance PACJLROUTLEDGE

Department

ofGeography and Topographic Science, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 SQQ, UK

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the contributions that can be made to critical geopolitics by the study of social movements. It argues that such a study would deccentre) analytical focus away from an exclusive concern with the machinations of the state and would investigate how social movements challenge statecentred notions of hegemony, consent and power and contest the colonization of the ‘political’ by the state. In particular, the paper argues for (1) the location of social movements within a contested web of power/knowledge relations; (2) the theoretical analysis of social movements as multiplicities explored through the concept of a terrain of resistance; and (3) a critical identification with social movements which would include the privileging and understanding of the voices of social movements as understood from the perspectives of the participants and a critical engagement with oppositional forces to the state. To contextualize these arguments, the paper examines resistances articulated by some contemporary South Asian social movements. Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

In a recent article, Slater (1993) argues that within the realm of geopolitics there is a growing focus on issues of space and power, in which questions of globalization deterritorialization He

argues

and reterritorialization

that these

development

questions

process, and proceeds

geopolitics and development

are of particular

institutions

noted the importance political

space

‘concomitant

brought

relevance

considering

the

critical

studies. An important area of investigation within this context in challenging

both the power of the state and

to enact particular development

of social movements about

reconstruction

when

to investigate the research linkages between

would be the role of social movements international

and localization,

have begun to come to the forefront of debates.

by these

programmes.

within the contemporary

as well as other

processes,

Dalby has also rearticulation

of

and within the

of political community at the global, local and regional scales’

(Dalby, 1992: 277). Clearly, while much of the recent literature on critical geopolitics focused upon the international

dimension

has

of politics (see, for example, 6 Tuathail, 1992,

1994; 6 Tuathail and Agnew, 1992; 6 Tuathail and Luke, 19941, there is a need for more detailed consideration of political processes at scales other than the global. Attention to the actions of social movements in at least two ways. First, it would (de)centre concern with the machinations investigate

would contribute to a critical geopolitics analytical focus away from an exclusive

of the state. Second, it would enable critical geopolitics

how different types of social movements

challenge

state-centred

to

notions of

hegemony, consent and power and contest the colonization of the ‘political’ by the state (see Falk, 1987; Dodds and Sidaway, 1994; Routledge, 1994). The consequences of such

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

510

an approach

may include the broadening

of political geography

radical understandings

of the political;

an understanding

particular

resistance

the

terrains

knowledges;

of

(see Routledge, social movement

within a contested

articulation

of

alternative

analysis of social

through the concept of a terrain of resistance;

with social movements

and a critical engagement

these arguments,

of social movements

relations; the theoretical

I examine

and

which would include the privileging and

of the voices of social movements

the participants,

may investigate these

In particular, I argue for the location

web of power/knowledge

a critical identification

contextualize

and

may interplay with global processes

some of the ways that a critical geopolitics

practices.

as multiplicities explored

understanding

creation

of resistance

more

1993; Dodds and Sidaway, 1994).

This paper explores

movements

and

and how local contexts

to encompass

of how place is central to

as understood

from the perspectives

with oppositional

resistances

forces

of

to the state. To

articulated by some contemporary

South Asian social movements. In the first two sections of the paper I explicate certain theoretical approaches various empirical

examples

for the purposes

of conceptual

illustration.

and use

As such, they

remain within the more traditional remit of intellectual inquiry. However, the next section, on critical engagement,

argues for a movement

away from this tradition, towards a more

active role for the intellectual and the privileging of the subjects of research. In so doing, the reader may experience

a disjuncture

mirroring my own experiences particularly the contradictions understandings

in the flow of the text. This is entirely deliberate,

and struggles within and between academia and activism, that arise between

an intellectual grasp of events and the

of those directly involved in those events. The empirical examples used in

the first two sections are those with which I have had personal experience

and a certain

level of interaction. However, it was while writing this paper that I felt the need to explore the notion of a deeper engagement section.

with particular resistances;

This paper thus represents

this is reflected in the third

a transition from the use of empirical

context to a call for a critical engagement,

materials as

The latter requires a more detailed analysis than is

possible within the space available, and is being explored within my current research.

The location of social movements Social movements

are usually located

within the political boundaries

of a state and

affected by the actions and policies of the state (as in the effects of development However,

it is important

to note that, increasingly,

regional and international

in focus and organization,

the 50th anniversary

of the World Bank (see Brecher

states, social movements

certain resistances

projects).

are becoming

such as the recent protests against and Costello,

1994). Also, within

may address their actions to groupings or institutions other than

the state, such as ethnic groups or the media. However, while some social theorists have argued that, in Latin America, the state is no longer the ‘object of attraction’ for social movements, they accept that the state nevertheless remains a referent for almost all social movements, whether it is being approached, opposed, or kept at a distance (see Calderon et al., 1992). Within such a dynamic, then, social movements are in perpetual interaction with states (e.g. via negotiations

or conflicts),

but they are not reducible

to them. They

frequently pose political, cultural, discursive and economic alternatives to the state and state policies. As Escobar (1992b) argues, social movements are autopoietic in character. Through their own actions, social movements establish a distinct presence in their social and cultural environment. Contemporary movements are seen as engaged in the self-

PAUL ROLFTLEDGE

511

production of their reality in multifaceted and complex ways-through their own organizing processes, through their interaction with their (cuitural, economic, political and physical) environment, through multiple socio-cultural and political networks that circumvent the state. We may situate social movements theoretically between the practices of everyday life (the family, community, etc.) and the socio-political processes of the state and regional/national institutions. This siting of social movements in relation to the practices of everyday life and the socio-political processes of the state is one of perpetual movement, negotiation, changing alliances and affinities, cooptions and infiltrations, contingent upon particular spatio-temporal conditions. Within this perpetual movement, social movements are located within a contested web of power and knowledge relations. Concerning relations of power, Foucault (1980) argues that power is of a multiple and decentred character, constituting mobile, circulating systems of relations that are interwoven with other relations of production, kinship, family, sexuality, and so on, that extend beyond the limits of the state. Power is conceived as operating in a capillary fashion from below rather than being imposed from particular positions in the social hierarchy, or derived from a foundational binary opposition between a ruling and ruled class (Smart, 1985: 122). While accepting that power is decentred throughout society, I find Foucault’s theory of power too amorphous. Critiques of Foucault’s notion of power have argued that too little allowance is made for the role of classes, economics, insurgency and rebellion-that resistance cannot equally be an adversarial alternative to power and a dependent function of it (Said, 1983: 246). Also ‘power’ has both macro and micro dimensions-local resistances tend to privilege the subject while macro processes (e.g. imperialism) tend to be manipulated by states-and this difference is not given due consideration by Foucault (Spivak, 1988). Although power is decentred throughout society it nevertheless coalesces in different formations at particular strategic sites, imbuing relations of domination and resistance.’ In articulating the relationship between domination and resistance, Foucault (1983: 225) argues that every power relation implies a strategy of struggle in which the forces of domination and resistance do not lose their specific nature-each constitutes for the other a kind of permanent limit, a point of possible reversal. These forces coalesce power at particular sites, and these sites provide the locations where hegemonies are contested. Gramsci’s (1971) theory of hegemony concerns the relationship between the economy, the state, and civil society. He argued that dominant social orders became so through physical coercion and cultural consent. Hegemony is defined as occurring when the intellectual, moral and political leadership achieved by the ruling class, or alliance of ruling class and class factions, successfully secures the consent of the majority of society. Hegemony is, however, a dynamic process-the groups of people involved, including dominant and resistant elements, are always shifting, as is the terrain upon which they struggle. Hegemony can thus be viewed as an active site upon which the contestation between forces of resistance and domination are enacted. A social movement is a heterogeneous formation comprising myriad (and at times conflicting) interests and identities (of gender, race, class, sexuality, and so on) that constitute an analytical and political-cultural terrain of contestation in which the hegemonies of state, the development project, aspects of modernity (economic growth, progress) can be explored, defined and challenged. Although the resistances that I have chosen are primarily targeted at the state, as one manifestation of dominating power, in other contexts the state may well uphold certain democratic rights within a society that are

512 being

Ctitical geopolitics and terrains of resistance challenged

include

by (anti-democratic)

the Sandanista

resistances.

government’s

Examples

during the 1980s and the upholding of reproductive the USA in the face of Operation

of this process

struggle against the Contra rebels

would

in Nicaragua

rights by various state legislatures in

Rescue mobilizations.

My focus upon resistances that are juxtaposed to dominating power reflects, in part, my own intellectual reproduction

interests and also distinguishes

of certain forms of dominating

be the South-African-backed peasant communities

these resistances

from those that are a

power. Examples of such resistance would

RENAMO guerrillas

in Mozambique,

whose

formed part of the apartheid regime’s destabilization

the frontline states; and the anti-abortion which form part of a broader

Operation

Rescue mobilizations

attack upon women’s

reproductive,

war against campaign of in the USA,

civil and economic

rights within the country.* Clearly, within and between states and social movements there is the potential for a variety of relations, including cooptation, and conflict. The principal examples

chosen

movements

of India, and Nepal’s Democracy

relationship

between

Following movement

Deleuze

dimensions

(of

and

Guattari

as rhizomatic:

the family,

(19871,

community,

I suggest

region,

connections

existence,

articulate alternative futures and possibilities,

collective

sensitivity

of knowledge,

that are specific

represent

symbolic

to particular

unexpected and forms of

and create autonomous

imposed

upon popular

zones as

constitute a

expression

by

these constraints (Massumi, 1992).

social movements

they can embody

submerged

different

and different ways of perceiving,

positions.

contested

popular

They can often

in the practices of everyday life

terrains

naming and acting in the world

expand

practices and knowledges

In the

embody

inner and social rhythms, alternative

1989). These different ways of becoming

domain to include everyday

frequently

spatial and cultural contexts.

and informal networks

within a community;

hegemonic

create

social

in different

to them.

relations

frames of meaning,

and they

power relations. Social movements

to the various constraints

practices

(Melucci,

interpret

imply a form that, while interacting with states in a variety of possible

ways, is irreducible Concerning

can

they move

They may invent new trajectories

dominating power, and an attempt to counteractualize These oppositions

that we forms,

etc.),

networks,

a strategy against particular dominating

situations where the

was primarily one of conflict.

they take diverse

and possibilities.

contradiction

Baliapal and Naxalite

Movement-explicate

state and social movement

practices

cooperation,

for this paper-the

the notion of the political

that are articulated as counter-

of the

development

project

it is

precisely the affirmation of these local everyday practices in relation to the hegemonic practices

of the state and private

subjugated

knowledges’

over cultural,

economic

(Foucault,

capital that has led to a myriad ‘insurrection 1980).

and political

Social

meanings,

movement differences

struggles

of

are frequently

and identities

that are

place-specific, articulated in opposition to state-centred and defined meanings and values (Routledge, 1992, 1993). The majority of people live within structures of dominating

power

not of their own choosing

or making.

However,

in response

to

these structures and processes, they do affect their own processes of creation, resistance, subversion, adaptation and transformation. Social movement challenges occur frequently, but not exclusively, within the sphere of civil society, where challenges are made to the legitimacy of state hegemony through the withdrawal of consent and the active articulation of resistance. Civil society ‘is seen in action terms as the domain of struggles, public spaces, and political processes. It comprises the social realm in which the creation of norms, identities, and social relations of domination

and resistance

are located’ (Cohen,

1985: 700).

513

PAUI. hITLEIKX

The importance begun

and motivational

to be recognized

force to collective action of popular knowledges

by some social movement

Parajuli (1991>, notes, both knowledge the agency example,

of social

movements

and power become

and the actions

(Escobar,

contested

has

1992b).

As

terrains between

of the developmentalist

state. For

since 1972 in the Garhwal Himalaya region of Uttar Pradesh, India, the Chipko

movement

has articulated peasant resistance to state and private forestry practices in the

area. The emergence

of the movement was in response to the commercial exploitation

local timber resources economy.

In

addition

deforestation,

to

concerted

the Chipko movement

the movement

indigenous

tree species

and undermined

non-violent

direct

the local subsistence

action

to

also argued for the importance

and forestry practices and knowledges, particular,

of

by state and private interests that had caused severe ecological

damage to the region (particularly deforestation),

bushes),

researchers

engaged

based upon the sustainable

in a massive

that supplied

reforestation

prevent

further

of local agricultural use of resources.

programme,

In

planting

what were termed the five Fs: fuel (e.g. hatah,

fodder (e.g. oak, grevia), fertilizer (e.g. oak and rhododendron

leaves),

food

(e.g. wild apricot, walnut, chestnut and yonchok bean trees), and fibre (e.g. tree cotton, mulberry

and

development

bamboo).

Other

practices

have

included

camps, where local soil conservation

been operationalized

(Routledge,

Many of the movements

exist between

‘newness’

ecohave

in both the South and the North have social movements

‘old’ and ‘new’ movements;

which theories about new social movements the

of

knowledges

by a variety of social theorists, although there is

much debate as to the extent to which contemporary

that social movement

conducting

1993).

involved in resistance

been termed ‘new social movements’ what type of continuities

the

and agro-forestry

are Eurocentric.’

are really ‘new’; and the extent to

Indeed, some have argued

practices have always been multiple and heterogeneous

of contemporary

movements

amongst

certain

social

and that

theorists

only

represents a refocusing of their interpretive focus to include an increased sensitivity to the plural forms of political action that have always existed in society (see Calderon 1992; Escobar and Alvarez, 1992). The ‘new social movement’

approach

et al,,

can be seen in

this light as a temporary analytical construct that will enable an improved understanding of contemporary However,

social movements.

various practices

responses

to continually

ecological

conditions.

recognized

articulated by contemporary

changing

the past by political organizations. in the workplace

movements

social movements

economic,

political,

These have given rise to forms of collective

in the past. At the level of the economy,

articulated conflicts over productive struggles

(yet interrelated)

resources

contemporary women’s

and in the household

between,

economic,

of contemporary

ecological

distribution of resources

between

movements competing

in

have articulated

on sexual grounds,

while ecological

and cultural production.

social

have

neglected

movements

such as Chipko have articulated the importance

demands

action that were not

social movements

and other issues frequently

For example,

represent

cultural and

of, and interrelationships

Furthermore,

are not restricted

the economic

to a more equitable

groups in those areas of production

largely

ignored by earlier movements, but are also involved in the creation of new services such as health and education in rural areas (Guha, 1989a). Indeed, social movements have emerged in many areas,including

civil liberties, women’s rights, science and health, that

are themselves often related to problems caused by development projects. At the level of politics, the new social movements are frequently autonomous from political parties although they may effect working relationships with institutionalized political formations

such as trade unions. Their goals frequently

articulate alternatives to

Cn’tical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

514 the political process,

political parties, the state, and the capture of state power. Indeed,

many contemporary around

spatially

(Routledge,

struggles privilege localized struggles within civil society, organizing

or politically

1993). Frequently,

specific

issues,

contemporary

forming

single-issue

movements

pressure

groups

have enlarged the conception

of politics to include issues of gender, ethnicity and the autonomy of diverse individuals and groups (Guha, 1989a). Many of these social movements simultaneously

addressing, for example,

multidimensional&y

are also multidimensional,

issues of poverty, environment

and culture. This

is indicative of an alternative politics that seeks to create autonomous

spaces of action outside the state arena (Peet and Watts, 1993). At the level of culture, contemporary of social and political expression, kinship,

neighbourhood

social movements

forming identities

and the social networks

instead of, ‘traditional’ solidarities symbolically

manifested,

environmental represent

peasant movements,

women’s associations, unemployed,

movements

youth

of vernacular

practices.

peasants,

groups,

by

and tribals-these

1992a).

human rights organizations,

educational

and

health

involved in various types of struggle (Corbridge,

these social movements

For those affected

women

rights groups, self-help movements

groups,

cultural

politics are

consist of a multiplicity of groups, including squatter neighbourhood

indigenous

life, in addition to, or

struggles are frequently

and cultural survival (Escobar,

social movements

around issues of

of everyday life, and movement

and landless

struggles for economic

movements, and

as expressions

degradation-poor

Contemporary

of everyday

of class. Movement

struggles over the practices and meanings

articulate the search for spaces

and solidarities

are localized, place-specific

amongst the poor

associations

and

artist’s

1991). As noted, many of

and do not necessarily coalesce

wider alliances posing threats to the state within political society (Routledge,

into

1993). Social

movement agencies represent a multiplicity of voices, discourses and practices which pose interesting implications for theoretical approaches

Social movements Contemporary

to the study of social movements.

as multiplicities

theoretical

debates

concerning

social movements

have included discus-

sions of the comparative efficacy of resource mobilization theories and identity-orientated theories. Within the latter, in particular, there are many divergent analyses, some of which are briefly highlighted

below.

The resource mobilization

approach

Tilly, 1978) takes as the object

(e.g. Oberschall,

1973; McCarthy and Zald, 1977;

of analysis the collective

action between

groups with

opposed interests, focusing upon the goals, organization and leadership of the movement, the resources and opportunities This perspective is concerned

available to the movement,

and the strategies it employs.

with movement processes over time and is keenly interested

in the role of political parties (whether regional, nationalist or communist) in organizing the disaffected and the role of the state as a mechanism of repression. Guha (1989b) towards specific

argues that this perspective economic

sees protest as instrumental and orientated

and political goals, hence

‘success’ becomes

the gauge by

which the significance of protest is measured. As Sharp (1973) has noted, it is not always possible to conclude categorically that a particular social movement has been a clear success or failure. Indeed elements of both may be present in certain situations. There may also be longer-term effects of movement agency that are as yet unknown or unquantifiable (such as psychological effects) and struggles may also imbue subtle and indirect political effects. More recent theoretical approaches within this paradigm seem to be addressing some of these issues (see Morris and Mueller, 1992).

PAULROIJTLEDGE

515

Identity-orientated theory (or the pOlitiCal-CUkUfd paradigm) seeks to understand how collective actors strive to create the identities and solidarities that they defend. The approach also attempts to understand how structural and cultural developments within society (such as social relations of power and domination and cultural orientations) contribute to the character and expression of a social movement. The identity-orientated perspective criticizes resource mobilization theory because the latter is viewed as studying social movement strategies as if actors are defined by their gmk and not by the social and power relations in which they are situated. In addition, the identity-orientated perspective accepts the importance of the resource mobilization theory but argues that crucial to a fuller understanding of resistance are the systems of political legitimacy that exist and the interplay between ideologies of domination and subordination. This analysis emphasizes the expressive dimensions of social protest, especially its cultural and religious idioms, and the nature of local class relations. Hence the significance of a movement is not just in terms of what the movement accomplishes or fails to accomplish, but also in the language in which the social actors express their discontent. Amongst the most influential theorists within the broad purview of this paradigm are Alain Touraine (1981, 19881,Ernest0 Laclau and Chantal Mouffe (1985) and Albert0 Melucci (1989). Although a detailed analysis of their work is beyond the scope of this paper, a few brief comments highlight some of the variety of approaches that characterize the identity-orientated paradigm.” Touraine argues that social movements are symptomatic of the self-production of society. They frame their struggles in terms of a cultural project, their goal being the control of historicity (particular sets of cultural models that control social practices), and not merely organizational forms, services, the means of production, and so on. In other words, conflict, whether focused around such issues as class, gender and ecology, cannot be separated from culture. Laclau and Mouffe argue that social movements constitute politics as an articulatory process. They understand social practice as fundamentally discursive, a process in which the meaning of human action is constructed. They also recognize that the articulation of meanings is constantly changing and conflictual, a terrain of hegemonic and counter-hegemonic interpretations and positions. They emphasize the process by which social movements articulate positions for themselves in relation to other movements and institutions (including the state). Meanwhile, Melucci emphasizes the symbolic character of contemporary movements, focusing on collective action and identity as a process rather than as an event. He argues that social movements cannot be understood independently of the submerged cultural networks of everyday life from which they emerge. He argues that because collective action is frequently focused on cultural codes, the form of social movements are themselves messages, operating as signs, representing a symbolic challenge to dominant codes. Rather than seeing social movements as unitary, coherent, collective social agents, Melucci argues that they constantly change character at the level of meanings, orientations and strategies. Social movements may be diffuse, exhibiting short-term, intense mobilizations, and reversible commitment. They may also have multiple leadership, and temporary or ad hoc organizational structures. Increasingly they tend to be self-reflexive, their selfreferential organizational forms at times being goals in themselves (Melucci, 1989; Bauman, 1992). Their participants are frequently heterogeneous in character and identity. This can result in unstable political formations, which dissolve once the issue in question reaches resolution, the formation being unable to override the diversity of its supporters’ interests (Bauman, 1992: 197). In the various spaces that they create, contemporary

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

516

movements attempt to articulate their own forms of representation. Their different forms of expression can be of short or long duration; metamorphic, interconnected, or hybrid; creative or self-destructive; challenging the status quo or conservative (Calderon et al., 1992: 23). To understand and contextualize particular social movements requires both an analysis of the spatial mediation of collective action (Routledge, 1993) and a theorizing of social movements as multiplicities. The latter draws upon Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) concept of nomadic thought and is particularly pertinent given the rhizomatic character of many contemporary movements. Nomadic thought does not analyse the world into discrete components. Rather, it synthesizes a multiplicity of elements and relations without effacing their heterogeneity or hindering their potential for future rearrangement. A multiplicity cannot lose or gain a dimension without changing its nature; indeed it is constantly transforming itself (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987: xiii, 33, 249). Social movements may be interpreted as fluid processes whose emergence and dissolution cannot be fixed as points in time. Myriad processes contribute to, overlap with, and extend beyond the dates we may wish to choose for the birth and death of resistance. Indeed, the boundaries of a social movement can be spurious; there is no clear division between past, present and future practices. Social movements in particular, and resistances in general, may be theorized as multiplicities of interactions, relations, and acts of becoming-a ceaseless process of struggle, confrontations and transformations: each of them a special case .resistances that are spontaneous, savage, solitary, concerted, rampant, or violent; still others that are quick to compromise, interested, sacrificial; focuses of resistance are spread over time and space at varying densities moments

inflaming certain points of the body, certain

of life, certain types of behavior.

(Foucault,

1978:

95-96)

Nomadic thought follows the agency of social movements within their spatio-cultural contexts, connecting the multiplicities it encounters by its own movement between and within their myriad terrains of resistance. In addition, nomadic thought addresses the diverse nature of contemporary theoretical approaches to collective agency by allowing a movement through and across their established (settled) categories and explanations. The process of following approaches resistances as if some experiences were evocative of others, and seeks to draw a flow of connections, rather than enact a process of appropriation, between these experiences (see Braidotti, 1994: 4-5).

Terrains of resbtance A terrain of resistance refers to the sites of contestation and the multiplicity of relations between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic powers and discourses, between forces and exploitation and resistance.5 It refers to the relations of domination, subjection, movement within and between these forces and relations-a movement of contradiction, multiplicity and heteronomy. More specifically, a terrain of resistance represents an interwoven web of specific symbolic meanings, communicative processes, political discourses, religious idioms, cultural practices, social networks, economic relations, physical settings, envisioned desires and hopes. These are endowed with varying degrees of strategic force, movement and meaning according to the particular spatial, cultural and historical contexts of a conflict.

PAUL ROUTLEDGE

517

Terrains of resistance, then, are assembled out of the materials, practices, becomings and knowledges of everyday life. They embody the tactical, strategic and symbolic processes involved in making the world, representing sites of contestation between differing beliefs, values, goals and imaginings. Each terrain of resistance combines a political praxis that includes both macropolitics and micropolitics. The microtexture of resistance articulates the memories and imaginations of social movements, their cultural symbols, their ‘tactics of the habitat’. It is entangled and inseparable from the macrotexture of resistance-those of organization, structural conditions of formation, political relations, and so on.” As a site of contestation, a terrain of resistance is not just a physical place but also a physical expression (e.g. the construction of barricades and trenches), which not only reflects a movement’s tactical ingenuity, but also endows space with an amalgam of meanings-be they symbolic, spiritual, ideological, cultural or political. A terrain of resistance is thus both metaphoric and literal. It constitutes the geographical ground upon which conflict takes place, and is a representational space with which to understand and interpret collective action. Further, terrains of resistance are manifested in myriad ‘spaces’, none of which are closed or ‘contain’ social movements. Rather, these spaces are intermingled with one another in a multiplicity of configurations. Each configuration reflects the specificity of social movement agency, the particular ways that movement within and between individual and collective agencies is enacted and enabled. Resistance against forces and relations of dominating power can range from individual to collective action. Collective action frequently takes the form of social movements, but can also include voluntary organizations, non-governmental organizations, religious organizations, community groups, self-help groups, pressure groups and informal networks such as counter-cultural affiliations in various forms of alliance and affinity (see Elkins, 1992). For example, the Baliapal movement emerged in 1985 in response to the Indian central government’s decision to locate the National Testing Range in the area of Baliapal in north Orissa on India’s Bay of Bengal coast. The establishment of the testing range-a missile test base for the research, production and launching of missiles and satellitesnecessitated the forced eviction of over 100 000 peasant farmers and fisherfolk (according to local estimates) from their homes and lands. Resistance by the local population was motivated by both economic and cultural factors. Baliapal’s lucrative cash crop economy, whose principal product paan (betel) was cultivated by most residents of the area, provided a degree of prosperity to all the residents. Indeed, all castes and classes had an (albeit unequal) stake in the land, sea and resources of the area. Combined with this was a powerful connection of the Baliapalis to the land, since the earth is revered as a manifestation of the great goddess, or mother, Durga (Kali). The movement was characterized by an almost unique (for India) solidarity across caste, class and gender, reflecting the perceived threat to all inhabitants’ livelihood that the test range represented, and the important role of women, who conducted most of the cultivation in the homestead economy in addition to their household and reproductive activities. The cultural expressions of resistance reflected both a moral commitment to nonviolence and a strategic use of place-specific sanctions, spanning methods of intervention, non-cooperation, and protest and persuasion. In order to prevent government officials from entering the Baliapal area (of approximately 130 villages), barricades were erected across the four entrance roads to the area and were staffed around the clock. Whenever the state attempted to enter the area, conch shells were blown and thalis (metal plates) were beaten to summon thousands of peasants to the barricades,

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

518 where

they

movement

formed

human

also established

third of them women). goddess

road-blocks

to prevent

These

people

pledged

that the

vehicles)

Baliapalis

movement

to be

relocated

also set up demolition

village under construction bun&s

process,

the Hindu warrior

outside

squads which were dispatched

the

(strikes)

(such

an engagement

as land disputes)

with the law enforcement

ideology

found solution

in a consensus

of the vichar process without

and judicial establishment

as beetu maati (our soil, our earth, our

the cultural sentiment

dimensions

of the peasant’s everyday

for the land-the

peasant’s sense of place-

into a political demand for the absolute right to its continued mythical provide

tools. These folkloric

included

precedent

the Baliapal

The government’s seduction

and

compensation Coercion

use through religious and

the use of Hindu texts such as the Mahabharata

to the agitation.

songs and dramas that emerged behind,

(Patel,

including

demonstrations.

was articulated

land) and drew upon the cultural and economic reality. It converted

This

leaders, whereby discussions

(‘sitting in protest’) outside the district collector’s office and outside

local police stations and holding numerous The movement’s

the

and reviving the vichar institution.

1989a,b). The movement also utilized many methods of protest and persuasion, dharnas

area,

to destroy a model

tactics by refusing to pay loans and taxes,

of local shops,

The villagers agreed to abide by the decisions

conducting

suggested

15 km away from the Baliapal area.

village problems

necessitating

The

in front of approaching

villages

entailed village-level meetings, facilitated by the movement concerning

entry.

of 5000 people (a

When the government

in model

The villagers also used non-cooperation organizing

before

themselves

if the barricades were breached. were

government’s

themselves

Durga to give their lives (by throwing

government

the

a marun sena (suicide squad) consisting

Movement

ideology

as both a potent expression

was articulated

of, and motivating

to in

force

resistance. response

mediation.

to the movement

Seduction

came

spanned

in the

form

the spectrum of the

of coercion,

rehabilitation

and

scheme designed to persuade the peasants to leave their homes and lands.

took various forms including:

1. the government kerosene

setting up an economic

from entering

blockade

the area, and imposing

of the area, such as preventing

fines on bullock

cans and vehicles

leaving the area with produce bound for market; 2. activists being arrested and detained without trial and preventative arrests being made at many of the large demonstrations; 3. armed police being deployed

around the Baliapal area, reaching 8000 in number in

May 1988 when the state government

decided to launch a military assault on Baliapal

to evict the peasants. The movement

was able to defer the attack, particularly

initiated with the state government,

since mediation

talks were

which ultimately defused the situation. By 1992, the

Baliapal villagers had returned to their agricultural activities, having for the time being prevented the establishment From this brief description, comprise Baliapal’s terrain of in the evocation of the Hindu

of the National we can identify resistance. The goddess Durga

Testing Range (Routledge, 1993). a multiplicity of processes and relations that movement made use of religious symbolism as the protector of the earth and the maran

sew, in the use of Hindu texts and in the use of conches (found in most village homes for the purposes of prayer). Communicative processes between activists and between the movement and the government included the use of conches, thalis, songs, dramas,

PAUL

ROUTLEDGE

519

demonstrations and the vichar process. The ideology of bbeeta maati juxtaposed a political discourse of local autonomy against the national security interests of the militarist state. The character of the resistance emerged from and reflected a variety of cultural practices pertaining to Hindu folklore and tradition, social networks and relations (e.g. the role of women in the community and the movement, and the role of panchayat leaders and paan traders as movement leaders), and economic relations pertaining to caste, class and the cash crop economy. The jungles, villages and padi fields of Baliapal provided the physical settings of the conflict, where space was defined (through bheeta maati) and defended (through the use of barricades, human road blocks, etc.). Many of these practices articulated the envisioned hopes and desires of the Baliapal residents that were embodied as forces in the strategic uses of non-violent sanctions. To contextualize Baliapal’s terrain of resistance further we can consider the interrelations between these processes and interactions. For example, the use of particular communicative processes, such as the blowing of conch shells to summon peasants to the barricades, can also be understood as the tactical use of a cultural artifact and the evocation of a religious practice. Or, the articulation of the ideology of bheeta maati was redolent with symbolic and religious meaning, which was in turn reflected in the socio-cultural relations of the community. Further analysis would enable us to understand the relative force within the resistance that these different processes expressed, both individually and in concert with others. Clearly, there is no definitive separation between these processes. They cannot be analysed as isolated characteristics or resources. In the fluidity of social movement agency, there is their relationship to, and interaction with, one another, as well as their articulation and force within the movement of resistance. Hence, resistance may itself be entangled with various relations of domination: of gender, caste, class and ethnicity. Further, this movement of resistance also involves the interplay of relations and forces between the social movement and its opponent: Baliapal’s terrain of resistance comprised a mobile relationship of forces between coercion, seduction, mediation and resistance. Social movements are assemblages’ occupying a milieu of rhythm and movement within and between a multiplicity of forces. They comprise interwoven terrains of resistance that are both the template of social movement agency and that are invoked, utilized and articulated in strategies, manoeuvres and vectors of dissent. These terrains are manifested in myriad ‘spaces’ that include the physical and territorial spaces of streets, squares, buildings, forests, and bodies-the places of resistance; the collective spaces of the crowd and the spontaneity and saturnalia of conflict-the moments, packs and swarmings of resistance; the symbolic and articulated vectors and forces of dissent, the personal and collective spaces of identities, memories, imaginings, dreams and desires-the strategies and the voices of resistance. Below, I outline some of these spaces as they pertain to particular terrains of resistance-where communication, participation and self-actualization at times find form, where social movements define, defend and affirm spaces and positions of resistance.

Places of resistance Because different social groups endow space with an amalgam of different meanings and values, particular places frequently become sites of conflict where the social structures and relations of power, domination and resistance intersect. Collective action is often focused upon cultural codes which are themselves spatially specific, since culture and ethnicity can create ‘imagined spaces’ (Harvey, 1989) reflecting a community’s sense of

520

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

p1ace.s The ideology emanating from this articulates a process of positive assertion (of local values and lifestyles) and resistance to intervening values of domination. Place, then, is important to sites of resistance, the creation of alternative knowledges, and the interplay between local and global practices. A sensitivity to particular places of resistance implies the acknowledgment of the intentionality of historical subjects, the subjective nature of perceptions, imaginations and experiences in dynamic spatial contexts, and how spaces are transformed into places redolent with cultural meaning, memory, and identity. To Baliapalis, the place of their resistance was considerably more than a name on a map, a site whose physical and climatic attributes endowed it with military potential. Indeed, Baliapal was considerably more than the territory constituting jungle, pudi and village. To the farmers and fisherfolk of north Orissa, Baliapal constituted their earth, their mother and their home. This sentiment was both economic and cultural. Economically, the fertile agricultural land of the area had provided a prosperous (albeit unequal) livelihood for all the residents. Culturally, the Baliapalis, as Hindus, worshipped the land as ‘mother earth’. In Orissa every village/territory has a goddess who is a variant of Durga (or Kali), the great goddess. As a village mother she is the particular earth within that village or territory. Hence people are born of the earth, their home land is the earth from which they are born. Those born on the same portion of earth, in the same village, share the same mother, namely the village goddess. As her children they are all one and from a kin-like community, the goddess being the earth of the community (Marglin and Marglin, 1990). Such was the potency of Baliapalis’ sense of place that they were prepared to defend their land to the death if necessary, through the construction of barricades, the formation of human road-blocks and the establishment of the marun sena.” Resistances enact a relationship of movement to spaces: space may be claimed, defended, strategically used, and/or abandoned. It is in the process of this movement that social movements articulate the places of their resistance. This relationship of movement to spaces is a complex and, at times, seemingly contradictory, web of intinerancies. I find it useful to consider Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) notion of smooth and striated spaces to explicate this relationship. They posit a striated space as one that intertwines fixed and variable elements, a space that is static and homogeneous and over which movement is territorialized and enclosed. In contrast, smooth space is one of continuous variation, a space that is fluid and heterogeneous and over which movement is deterritorialized. These very different spaces are constantly mutating into one another, representing a dynamic process of multiplicities rather than dialectics. Hence social movements will enact particular configurations of intinerancy according to the specific spatial, political, cultural and strategic circumstances in which they are located. A particular resistance may effect both territorialized and deterritorialized movement during the dynamics of a conflict. Effecting a territorialization of movement, Baliapalis laid claim to the jungles, padis and villages of north Orissa through their enactment of resistance to the test range. They created a defensible space against encroachment and eviction by the government which was demarcated by barricades and human road-blocks, songs and dramas, memory and ideology. Strategically, the four entry roads to the area were utilized as the most effective locations for the barricades, This claiming and defence of space formed an important part of the movement’s strategic repertoire. So, too, did an itinerancy of deterritorialization, which involved what we might term a negative movement. During the conflict over the test range, the state government of Orissa had created a rehabilitation plan which entailed relocating the residents of Baliapal to model villages outside the area. The government stated that Baliapalis would only be evicted from their homes once the model villages had been

521

PAUL ROUTLEIXE

completed

to accommodate

them. The movement

responded

by establishing

squads which were dispatched to a model village under construction. the model village, destroying movement’s

attack of space-a

Swarmings,

movement

In doing so, the

and a strategic rejection and of affirmation

pat ks, moments

Social

trajectories,

and standing structures.

negation that formed part of a broader movement

There is a changing practice.

the foundations

tactics also involved deterritorialized

demolition

The squads attacked

constellation

movements

of possibilities

consist

of resistance

of a multiplicity

desires, strategies and groupings: an innumerable

their intertwined

within social movement

of personal

and interpersonal

collection of singularities-

paths weave places together, through assemblies,

marches and rallies

giving places meaning and moment. Figures are the acts of this metamorphosis

of space,

they are moving ‘trees of gestures’ (Rilke, quoted in de Certeau 1984: 1021, packs and swarms coalescing movements. between

into movements,

emerging

Within social movement

within movements,

decomposing

from

practice we might interrogate the interrelationship

the individual, the pack, the swarm, and the agency of movements

themselves.

Packs are small in number and often constitute what Canetti (1962) calls ‘crowd crystals’ (affinity

groups,

demonstrations

cadres,

street

theatre

and movements.

deterritorialization,

effecting

groups,

etc.> that

may

precipitate

Packs are always in the process

a Brownian

crowds,

of dispersion

and

variability of direction.

The swarm lo by contrast, is large in number, possessing the properties of concentration, hierarchy and the organization of territoriality. These different multiplicities effect different modes of action. The pack does not openly confront dominating power, it is more secretive, utilizing

underground

movement.

tactics,

By contrast,

surprise,

and the unpredictability

the swarm openly

confronts

dominating

of deterritorialized power by weight of

numbers, by territorializing space. Swarmings can be either predictable or not, sometimes the prelude to, or expression spontaneous

of, social movements.

At other times swarms may articulate

moments of defiance, anger or elation that decompose

form. These assemblages,

almost as soon as they

the pack and the swarm, may be interrelated

prelude to, or transformation

Two examples will elucidate the importance

certain actions were focused upon an

individual forming a pack of assassins to perpetrate the tactic of kbatam, The annihilation of a landlord or moneylender

the annihilation

was not perceived as an

isolated event but rather as a means of ‘liquidating the political, economic authority of the class enemy’ (Banerjee, of its eyes and ears’ (Banerjee, would act as a catalyst whereby

that the annihilation

the victims’ crops would be seized; the peasants would (having

realizing their own power, the peasants line essentially

and social

1984: 113). Not only would the state ‘be deprived

1984: 1131, but it was also expected

lose their fear of their oppressors

khatam

a

of the pack and the swarm. As part of the

rural strategy of India’s Maoist Naxalite movement, of class enemies.

or opposed,

from, the other.

seen how they could be destroyed);

and.

would be inspired to join the struggle. The

operated through an underground

structure, exemplified

by the

slogan ‘one man, one village, one action’, and would involve a Naxalite cadre infiltrating a village, setting up a guerrilla squad of four or five peasants and proceeding to annihilate a landlord.

Hence

situations movement cadre became contact with spontaneously

an individual action was expected agency became

to lead to mass action. In such

the agency of an individual and then a pack-the

the movement. Imbued with the ideology of the movement, but out of movement leaders, these cadres and their packs frequently acted and the tactics of the movement frequently degenerated into terrorism:

522

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

‘class enemies’ were often only those who symbolized opposition to the revolution rather than the actual enemy.” An understanding of the Naxalite movement-its tactics, failures,

trajectories,

between

these individual cadres, and their packs, to the peasant masses they attempted

to mobilize,

and so on-is

and to the movement

Regarding

incomplete

without

households

of 1990, the Movement

were asked to turn out all their lights as a symbol

and resistance against the government.

These protests were often called

during the evening curfews that were imposed by the government the

movement.

The

disappearance

blackouts

served

for the movement:

the government;

for the

(MRD) organized a series of blackout protests whereby all the

in the city (of Kathmandu)

of dissatisfaction

of the relation

in general.

the swarm, during the Nepal revolution

Restoration of Democracy

an analysis

simultaneously

they symbolically

in an attempt to quell

as a tactic

communicated

of visibility

and

popular resistance to

they enabled city residents to grasp the extent of popular support for the

MRD and acted as a morale booster

to the movement;

and they enabled

increasing

numbers of people to show solidarity to the movement and to pose a spatial challenge to the curfew likelihood

by joining

demonstrations

under

cover

of darkness,

thus reducing

the

of being identified by the authorities or arrested.12

The swarmings were contagious,

sudden, occurring in numerous places, and were both

destructive and creative. Some people set fire to car tyres to act as temporary barricades across

the narrow

throwing temples,

streets,

demonstrators

as pitched

developed.

others disappeared

battles

between

In the ensuing

armed

riot police

conflict,

some

climbed

down side streets, still others darted into doorways.

retreated in the face of tear gas and bullets, while others counter-attacked stones. Demonstrators

and stone-

people

Some

with bricks and

swarmed like the sea, a multiplicity of waves in motion.

In the

morning the streets were strewn with rubble and speckled with the charred remains of car tyres, buildings

were blackened

police vehicles lay abandoned, the ‘untamed movement

leadership

Frequently leadership, the form

moments

and burned overturned

of resistance’

(Routledge,

by the incendiary

outside the non-violent

of non-violent,

ordered and policed,

discipline

Swarmings

albeit in opposition

demonstrations

some swarmings took and rallies,

to the regime. Other swarmings,

blackout protests, broke with the non-violent

discipline of the movement,

broader logic of planned resistance to the curfews. An understanding they changed movement

some of

called by the

have targets, trajectories,

During the Nepal revolution,

movement-directed

the Restoration of Democracy

buses and

1994).

there is a logic to crowd behaviour.

goals and terminations.

of protest,

and burned out. These represented

is incomplete

and were such as the

albeit within a

of the Movement for

without an analysis of these swarmings, how

the dynamics of the conflict from moment to moment, how they affected

strategy and the responses

of the government.

Social movements can begin with moments, with festivals, gatherings, small battles, struggles or swarmings. For example, carnivals can act as the places where new modes of interrelationships and dominations

between of everyday

individuals are explored,

counterposed

to the hierarchies

life. During carnival time official values are frequently

inverted and authority questioned. People practice a withdrawal from, or suspension of, the dominant order. They publicly live the reverse side of the world (Folch-Serra, 1990). Carnivals in this sense are ritualized resistances, potentially subversive for what they articulate as alternatives to the powers that be, for what future resistances they may inspire. More importantly, perhaps, are those moments-both during the ‘life’ of a social movement that are untamed,

individual and collectiveuntrained and unexpected;

PAUL ROUTLEDGE

523

moments that cannot be totally planned for-the spontaneity and saturnalia of struggle. The exhilaration of affirming oneself in the face of dominating power, the feelings and passions engendered by rebellion, by being of, in, and for resistance, ‘this stepping out ofeverything which binds, encloses and burdens’ (Canetti, 1962: 376)--these moments are not reducible to the theoretical explanations of collective action. Scott (1990) argues that the mood and tone experienced by those who are engaged in resistance be placed at the centre of sociological analysis, since their energy and excitement are part of what impels events. Such moments are an essential force in political struggle that contemporary social movement theories cannot hope to capture. Also, such moments are spatially specific, manifested within particular cultural, historical and socio-political contexts. Every resistance, therefore, has a microtexture that articulates and shapes the everyday experiences and desires of the oppressed; their memories and imaginations; their cultural symbols; their tactics of the habitat; that which inspires and motivates social movement actors.

Critical identification

with resistance

Voices Social movements frequently draw upon local knowledges, cultural practices and vernacular languages to articulate their resistances. The particular cultural, economic and political milieu from which a movement emerges can influence the character and form that a movement’s resistance takes. The ‘cultural expressions of movement resistance’the place-specific ‘language of discontent’ (Guha, 1989b: 3) that motivates and informs social movement agency-is of crucial importance in the understanding of collective action (Routledge, 1993). Vectors of dissent may include a multiplicity of songs, poems, stories, myths and metaphors. These linguistic practices articulate the symbolic creativity enmeshed in everyday life: language, the body, performative rituals, work, ceremonial life, individual and collective identities (Comaroff, 1985). It is from this reservoir of meanings embedded in the practices of everyday life that people shape and articulate their struggles. Ngugi (1986: 211, referring to anti-colonial struggles in Africa, has noted how resistance frequently drew stamina from and was inspired by the dramas, experiences and languages of everyday life-the ‘proverbs, fables, stories, riddles and wise sayings of the peasantry. Such cultural practices can evoke senses of place, history and community that give potent expression to social movements’ struggles. These may also remain despite defeat, bring to life other resistances, or relate to the repression if not the uprisings. What Harlow (1987) has termed ‘resistance literature’ (e.g. poetry, prison memoirs, resistance narratives) both reflects and participates in social movement struggles. It acts as a political disruption and intervention, expressing emotions, hopes and desires-that which gives movements their ‘feeling space’. For example, in those areas of India where the Naxalite movement attempted to mobilize Santhal tribal peoples, the movement stressed how Naxalite activities were consistent with traditional tribal identity and value. This was done by giving new meanings to old song patterns, by using traditional tunes from Santhal festivals, and by developing powerful historical themes (e.g. connecting Naxalite actions with those of the heroes of the Santhal Insurrection of 1855, Sidhu and Kanu). Through songs such as the one below, the Naxalites facilitated the political and military organization of the Santhals (Duyker, 1987).

524

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

People of India In the way in which Sidhu and Kanu fought We will wake from our slumber following their example We will no longer remain asleep Now it is evening. But the morning is coming again A light from the east (The message of Mao Tsetung) Has spread all over India. (Quoted in Duyker, 1987) Many of these cultural expressions of resistance represent what Fanon (1963: 240) has called the ‘literature of combat’ of the oppressed: they articulate the struggle for new ideas, new territories of debate and analysis, the privileging of marginal voices (and the consequent de-privileging of states), and their spatial struggles for identity and territory. Memory as a site of resistance can be the means of transforming places, of motivating and inspiring resistance, as the example of the Naxalite movement attests. The extent to which such cultural expressions are different from, rather than incommensurable to, the ‘voices’ of the state, international institutions and so on depends, in part, upon the particular spatio-cultural context of the struggle-for example, the ideologies articulated and the methods of resistance used. A critical identification with social movements within geopolitical enquiry can, therefore, approach movement agency not only in terms of the particular (economic, political, cultural, etc.) causes and crises that precipitate the emergence of resistance but also social movements’ own rationality, representations, interpretations, organization and stories of resistance. The voices of social movements represent strategies of transformation and change through which new discursive formations may be articulated. They pose challenges to the colonization of language, ideology and the expectation of meanings by the geopolitical centre, while affirming local identity, culture and systems of knowledge as an integral part of their resistance. It should also be noted that the voices within a particular social movement are by no means homogeneous. Within any resistance there exist tensions, conflicts, negotiations and differences that may or may not be resolved during a particular struggle. The various ideological factions comprising the Naxalite movement attest to this (see Banerjee, 1984). While beyond the scope of this paper, an inquiry into the differences within and between resisters within a particular conflict represents an important area of research into social movement dynamics. My argument, then, is that by analysing the cultural expressions of resistance we can begin to understand social movement agency through the voices of its participants rather than through the exclusive mediation of elite and establishment discourse. This is not to suggest that these voices are necessarily an authentic articulation of resisters’ (individual or collective) inner subjectivity, since each individual resister speaks with many voices, being many things other than a resister. Rather, these cultural expressions of resistance disclose the momentary voices of those opposed to dominating power within particular spatio-temporal contexts. A sensitivity to them may enable an interrogation of our interpretations of social movements in relation to their self-interpretations and representations, and how they position themselves in regard to these interpretations (Escobar, 1992a). Clearly there is a fluidity in any sites of representation-there is no clear distinction between speaking for others and letting others speak for themselves. Indeed, an academic strategy of polyphony raises important political issues. Among these are: how the voices of others are (re)presented; the extent to which these voices are interwoven with the persona of the narrator; the degree of authorial power regarding who initiates the research, who decides on textual arrangements, and who decides which

PALT R~I~TLEDGE

525

voices are heard; and the power relations involved in the cultural capital conferred specialist knowledge

aware of the danger of recuperating world academic’.

However,

others’ voices into the ‘redemptive project of the first

polyphony

is also redolent with potentials:

for evoking the

particular contexts

of everyday life, for articulating the myriad dimensions

and interpretation

within social movement

collaborative

by

(Crang, 1992). As Duncan (1993: 371) notes, it is important to be

projects between

researchers

experience,

of perception

and for the development

and social movements.

of

I will return to this in

the final section of the paper.

Also of importance

to a critical geopolitics

are the often contradictory

material contexts within which these discourses are embedded 1993). Of particular importance movements-how

to a critical geopolitics

specific encounters

to pursue desired outcomes in a

including those tactical vectors of dissent in

that express a social movement’s

ingenuity and deployment

Such strategies may be culturally and spatially expressed articulate relationships

and Boucher,

are the strategic practices of social

resources and actions are coordinated

fluid process of interaction with opponents,

cultural, social and

(Whatmore

of forces.

in myriad ways, yet they always

of power between the antagonists (Foucault,

1983: 225-6).

Strategic theories frequently provide pragmatic guidelines for future action, be it violent or non-violent.

The uses of strategic violence by social movements,

warfare, is well documented frequently

particularly guerrilla

(e.g. Mao Zedong, 1961; Guervara, 1968; Chailand, 1982) and

involves the flexibility of tactical movement

between

spaces.

For example,

during the Naxalite insurgency, the movement was constantly faced by encirclement and suppression tactics by the state security forces.‘” As a result, rather than establish permanent

liberated areas, the Naxalites would establish ‘fluid bases’, continually moving

from one base to another. At times, the contested places would change hands between the movement and the state several times over the course of the struggle (Banerjee,

1984).

Meanwhile, Sharp (1973, 1980) has emphasized the strategic elements of the use of nonviolent action. This approach considers relations of power derived from people’s desire to cooperate

and consent and a government’s

non-violent

ability to repress; how power is manifested in

conflict via the methods of non-violent

are subject to the logic of strategic interaction. proposes

the withdrawal of popular consent

action; and how non-violent The prosecution

sanctions

of non-violent

action

from the state. While Sharp describes

198

different methods of non-violent action, he stresses that this list is by no means exhaustive: resistance strategies reflect myriad forms of imagination and ingenuity. Whereas

the aforementioned

against an enemy

(albeit

strategies

covert

efficacy of alternative approaches. rather than a direct confrontation in Mexico,

imply confrontational

as with guerrilla warfare),

forces

others

to be arrayed

have stressed

the

For example, Esteva (1987) argues for a co-movement with the state. In attempts to regenerate

he argues for alliances,

movements,

people’s spaces

popular and vernacular formations

that

attempt to circumvent the market and the state. In another context, Bey (1991) argues for tactics of disappearance whereby movements do not openly declare their existence to the state but rather create alternatives tangentially to it. What Scott (1990) has called ‘infrapolitics-forms

of disguised,

low-profile

rumour, gossip, disguises, euphemisms,

or undisclosed

resistance-may

involve

folktales and ritual gestures, as well as evasion,

foot-dragging and squatting, which may also form part of the strategic repertoire of social movements and may themselves lead to openly declared confrontation,

526

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

Resistance strategies are fluid and diverse. They intersect with class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality in complex and different ways, involving movement within and between different forms and tactics. Strategic mobility allows for myriad perspectives to be explored which may reveal possibilities of action unimagined from other positions and assemblages (Haraway, 1991). Such an oscillation of resistance is important for at least two reasons: first, because the opponents of social movements (be they states, international institutions, private interests, etc.) occupy constantly changing positions regarding policies, strategies and relations, and thus social movements must be able to manoeuvre in relation to these shifting sands of power; second, because mobility enables autopoietic movements to avoid entrapment by those options offered by dominating discourses (Rose, 1993). Resistance strategies thus comprise a multiplicity of possibilities and movements. Hence, we may inquire into the interactions of social movements with other assemblages and networks (states, organizations, communities), in alliance, in affinity, or in opposition. For example, the Baliapal movement’s interactions with the peasant communities of north Orissa from which it emerged, the opposition political parties and voluntary organizations with whom it formed alliances, and the state with whom it was opposed can all be studied. We may inquire into the relays within social movements, the communication flows between individuals, packs and swarms, between leadership, cadre and the mass movement, such as the Baliapal movement’s use of the vichar process and songs and dramas to inform and motivate movement activists and to create consensus within the movement. We may inquire into the trajectories of social movement agencythe redistribution of movement forces and energies to create differences in the effects of resistance strategies, such as the Naxalite movement’s change from a rural to an urban strategy of resistance following the government’s encirclement and suppression of the movement’s rural guerrilla bases. We may also inquire into the traces of social movement agency-those ‘ghostly repetitions’ (Bhabha, 1994:156) that are woven in memories, stories and strategies, that inspire and inform other resistances. For example, the Naxalite movement was informed and inspired by previous communist rebellions in India (such as the Telengana struggle) and the Chinese revolution. The Naxalite movement’s experience also informed later guerrilla struggles in India, such as those of the People’s War Group and the Indian People’s Front. Following Said (19831, I would argue for the investigation of ‘travelling strategies’-the extent to which (and reasons why) particular strategic interventions by social movements situated in particular spatio-temporal contexts are applicable (or not) to other movements in other times and places.‘*

Critical engagement Nancy Fraser (1989:113)has argued that critical social theory should frame ‘its research program and its conceptual framework with an eye to the aims and activities of those oppositional movements with which it has a partisan, though not uncritical identification’. I would add that a process of engagement and collaboration is also of crucial importance-a situation of critical thought as action-orientated, engaged with the political claims and actions of social movements. Such a process would actualize critical positionality by passing into action. In this process of following, a critical geopolitics will move between resistances and within them. This perspective recognizes that the voices of those involved in struggles are distinct from the social science literature that seeks to study and explain such struggles. Following resistance deliberately privileges the former over the latter and attempts an active engagement with it.

527

PAUL ROLTLEIXX

I recognize

that this counter-narrative

about resistance and critical engagement

is also

located within the nexus of power/knowledge

relations within which the social sciences

are inscribed.

to both my privileged position as a male,

western

It is also related problematically

academic

dominating

and to the positions

and exploited

who resist

power. It would be facile for me to claim that I am simply on the side of the

oppressed

and that my purpose

unheard

of the oppressed

in social

considered

scientific

is to serve as a relay for their voices,

discourse

because

their

‘subordinated

which remain knowledge’

is

invalid. Also, I cannot effortlessly align myself with the resisting masses on the

assumption

that they know all there is to know without the intervention

so all I need to do is to help them seize the right to speak.”

of intellectuals,

Indeed, Spivak (1$X38: 276)

cautions against an ‘essentialist, utopian politics’ that assumes that beyond representation is a place where the subaltern necessarily My identification

speak, act and know for themselves.

with resisters depends

on my privileged status, which allows me to

engage in a certain form of political and intellectual nomadism while taking my academic baggage

with me. This is clearly

homeless.‘” oppressed

forces

that prevent

intellectuals which

the ‘subaltern’

cannot speak for themselves. Baliapalis subject

and Naxalites,

abdicate

problems

the

subject-positions

Male, white, and cultural

of subalterns

who

Indeed, my position as a male academic who writes about depends

on wider processes,

that they may wish to resist. I cannot, nor cease

which place my therefore,

simply

to construct

of representation,

it is important

to note

Spivak’s

them

argument

implies two different, yet related, meanings: representation

for’ (as in political delegation),

and representation

in art or philosophy).

argues that to confront

that

as in ‘speaking

as in ‘speaking of (as in depiction or

She notes that the latter frequently

political, cultural, ideological and economic speaking

and the

I enable

even as I refuse to speak, in some ways, on their behalf. When confronting

representation description

their interests.

with global political-economic

my role, in this paper, as their representative,

discursively, such

from articulating

the marginalized

for example,

matter in positions

with refugees

both my privileged position and the ideological

have been complicit

have constituted

for example,

to identify with the oppressed,

to speak, is also to overlook

hegemonies western

not the case,

To claim that by desiring

dissimulates

the

relations of power imbued in the former, and

resisting others requires

a speaking

of ourselves

rather than a

for them.”

Some of the problems

associated with speaking of others arise, in part, because of the

frequent separation of the academy from the struggles of everyday life. This position can only be explored through an interactive practice between academics and activists, which recognizes

the differences

in the relations of power and knowledge

within which the

participants are located. I certainly do not claim the margin as a place from which I can speak. However, it is fair to say that I have, on occasion, space of the subaltern in order to be empowered with the Baliapal

movement

Nepal’s autocratic government asked by members

and participated

I have worked

in some of the demonstrations

during the revolution

of the movements

literally entered the marginal

in my own resistance.‘*

of 1990. On both occasions

against I was

to write about their struggles when back in ‘the

West’. I have endeavoured to do so in a variety of media, including this issue of Political Geography. In addition to this (and indeed stemming from a certain dissatisfaction with my level of involvement in such struggles), I am also interested in exploring the politics of affinity with resisting others, in coalition, and in critical solidarity-a political involvement, through intellectual and activist activity, in everyday struggles and conflicts. Such a position articulates a counter-hegemonic strategies of intellectual forms of dominating

practice which is counterposed

to the

power that silence, prohibit and disqualify

528

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

local forms of knowledge and expressions of resistance. i9 Cognizant of the indignity of speaking for others, critical engagement celebrates the myriad discourses of resistance, enables them to enter into wider circulation, and creates networks of ideas, of strategies, and knowledges, of communication and alliance. Such a ‘politics of articulation’ (Haraway, 1992) involves an interactive process of collaboration between critical theorists and social movements as subjects working together to understand the questions under examination, the heterogeneous accounts of the world. Such a process implies social relations of conversation rather than discovery, the creation of political formations/ assemblages between social movements and critical theorists as actants.‘” The coauthorship of research findings where social movement actors have their own say in the text and its production; the varied contributions made by academics to social movements as requested by the latter (see above); and a constant interrogation of the positionality of the critical intellectual in relation to both social movements and the academy would be but some of the possible outcomes of such collaboration. A critical geopolitics can attempt to tell stories of resistance that traverse between and within sites of resistance. These stories are about places as distinct locations, comprising distinct knowledges, histories and theatres of action. Critical engagement opens up a legitimate space for practical actions: heterogeneous, fragmented, polyvalent, a multiplicity of resistances. A critical geopolitics thus approaches the identification with social movements through acknowledging, listening and learning from their own voices, knowledges and meanings, to understand and interpret their agency. The actualization of such situated theory becomes a participatory and collaborationist process within the terrain of resistance and should be seen as local and regional rather than totalizing, as an activity conducted alongside those who struggle, a counter-discourse of knowledges and resistances (Deleuze and Foucault, 1977: 205-217). Such a project raises crucial issues of representational, ethical and political practice within (and without) academic enquiry, the consequences of which remain to be played out in multiple avenues of affinity within the crucible of conflict.

Acknowledgments I would like to thank Nigel Thrift and Gearoid 6 Tuathail and the anonymous their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

referees for

Notes 1.

Dominating power is understood as that power that attempts to control or coerce others, impose its will upon others, or manipulate

the consent of others. This dominating

within the realms of the state, the economy, economic,

political

and cultural relations

are all faces of dominating that which is intolerant of a particular

power-that

of difference,

and civil society,

and institutions.

Patriarchy,

which attempts to silence, that which engenders

class, caste, race or political

configuration

power can be located

and articulated

within social,

racism and homophobia

prohibit or repress dissent,

inequality,

and asserts the interests

at the expense

of others.

2. See Faludi (1991) for what she describes as a war against American women. 3. See for example Social Research 52(4) (19851, which is devoted to an early debate on this question,

including contributions

from Alain Touraine,

Offe. See also Slater (1985) and Escobar

Albert0 Melucci, Charles Tilly and Claus

and Alvarez (1992).

4. For an interesting summary of these authors’ work see Escobar (1992a). 5. Subjection refers to a form of power that makes individuals subjects. This can mean being subject to someone

else by control and dependence,

as well as being tied to one’s own identity

PAUL

6.

7.

8. 9.

10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

20.

kXTT’LEDGE

529

by conscious self-knowledge. Domination refers to ethnic, social and religious coercions. Exploitation refers to the social and spatial relations that separate individuals from what they produce. These economic, cultural and political forces and relations are interrelated. Also, in every resistance there is the danger of new forms of domination. Domination, subjection. exploitation and resistance, therefore, are inseparable, they overlap and are entangled (see Foucault, 1983). The familiar tuoist image of the yin-yang symbol is of use here in visualizing the interrelationship between micropolitics and macropolitics and the interconnectedness between domination and resistance. There is no complete separation between the two practices; one will always contain at least the seed of the other. This has implications for our understanding of social movements and resistance. It problematizes in a critical way the agency of ‘political’ subjects-for example, striking General Electric workers in the USA whose jobs involve producing the Vulcan 2 gun for the El Salvadorean military to use against SahQdOrean peasants. A constellation of singularities/traits that are deducted from the flow of events (selected, organized, stratified) in such a way as to converge artificially and naturally (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987). Sense of place refers to the subjective orientation that can be engendered by living in a place. My intention, here, is not to romanticize the cause of the Bahapdhs. While in Baliapal I was confronted several times by villagers who declared that they would rather die than leave their land and their mother. The formation of the marun sena is an adequate testament to this declaration. The notion of the swarm is taken from Ross (1988). Interview with ex-Naxalite cadres, Calcutta, 1989. The darkness afforded protesters a greater degree of anonymity than daylight demonstrations, and the shadowy, narrow side streets of the city enabled protesters to elude the security forces more effectively than during the day. The Indian Army would surround a particular area or village complex and then proceed to arrest, torture or execute all those people they found therein (see Banerjee, 1984). The experience of the Naxalite movement in India who adopted, largely uncritically, Maoist doctrine and tactics attest to this point. This attitude is expressed by Deleuze and Foucault (1977). Kaplan (1987) criticizes Deleuze and Guattari (1987) for ignoring their own privilege. See Spivak (1988: 271-280) for this critique of Deleuze and Foucault (1977). See hooks (1990: 152-3) for the concept of marginality as a site of resistance. See Foucault (1980: 126-133) for an analysis on the role of the specific intellectual. Collective entities in action (see Haraway, 1992).

References BANLKJPI., S. (1984) I?‘tdiu:s Simmering Rwolution. London: Zed Press. BAI’MAN,Z. (1992) Intimations of Postmodewi~y. New York: Routledge. Biiu, H. (1991) 7XZ. Brooklyn, NY Autonomedia. BIIAH~IA,H. (1994) The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. BKAIIX~TI,R. (1994) Nomadic Subjects. New York: Columbia University Press. BKKIKH, J. ANI>COS.I.BLLO, T. (1994) Global Villuge or Global Pilktge. Boston, MA: South End Press. CAI.IXXON, F., PISCI~I.I.I,A. ANDREYNA, J. L. (1992) Social movements: actors, theories, expectations. In The Makifzg qf Sociul Movement.5 in Latin America (A. Escobar and S. E. Alvarez, eds) pp. 19-36. Boulder, CO: Westview. CANINES, E. (1962) ~OZIJ& and Power. Harmondsworth: Penguin. CIIAKANI),G. (1982) Guerrilla Strategies. London: Penguin. COIIEN,J. L. (1985) Strategy and identity: new theoretical paradigms and contemporary social movements. Social Re.warch 52, 663-716.

530

Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance

COMAROFF, J. (1985) Body of Power, Spirit of Resistance. Chicago,

IL: IJniversity of Chicago Press. Conea~nc.~, S. (1991) Third world development. Progress in Human Geograpb.y 15(3), 311-321. CRANG,P. (1992) The politics of polyphony: reconfigurations in geographical authority Society and Space 10, 527-549. IX CER~FAII,M. (1984) The Practice oJl3eryda.y Lz$. Berkeley: University of California Press. DALRY,S. (1991) Critical geopolitics: discourse, difference, and dissent SocieONG (1961) On Guerrilla Warfare. New York: Praeger. MARCLIN, S. AND MAROLIN, F. EDS (19’90) Dominating Knowledge: Dewelopment, Culture and Resistance. Oxford: Clarendon Press. MASSIJMI, B. (1992) A User’s guide to Cupitalism and Schizophrenia. London: MIT Press. MELIICCI, A. (1989) Nomads of the Present. London: Radius. MORRIS,A. D. ANL>M~F.LLER, C. M. (1992) Frontiers in Social Movement Theory. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Nc.ljc.1, WATHIONG’O(1986) Decolonrring the Mind. London: Heinemdnn. OBERX.IIAI.L, A. (1973) Sociul Conflic& and Social Mowmel& New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

531

PAUL ROUTLEIXF O~r:r-,C. (1985) New social movements:

challenging

X17-868. 6 TI ~KI‘~+AII., G. (1992) The Bush Administration

the boundaries

of institutional

politics. Social Raearch.

and the ‘End’ of the Cold War: a critical geopolitics

52.

of I1.S. foreign

policy in 19X9 Geoforum 23, 437-452. 6 TIIKUIIAIL, G. (1994) Problematizing geopolitics: survey, statesmanship and strategy. T?-~n.w~ti~n.s ~~lhelxsti~ut~ qfBritish G~ogrupb~m 19, 259-272. $, Tr~nl-IIAII., G. ANDA<;NI-W, J. (1992) Geopolitics and discourse: practical geopolitical reasoning and I JS foreign policy. Political Geogruphy 11, 190-204. i, TUAIIH G. ANI>LUKI.,T. (1994) Present at the (dis)integration: deterritorialization and reterritorializatrc,n in the New Wor(l)d Order. Aslm.ds of the Association qfAmerica;z G~ogruphcrs 84, 381--39X. l’h~.qt 1I, P.(1991) Power and knowledge in development discourse: new social movements and the state in India I~~termttiomtl Cofzjlict Raxurch 127 (February). 173-190. l’h11.1, S. (19X9d) t?dhqxIl agitation: socio-economic background. Eco1tomic alzd PditiCd Week@. March. 604-605. I’KII:I.,S (198911) Agni, Cyclone and Bdiidpal agitation. ~%onomic and PoIiticaI Week!): June, 13X1-1382. PI II, K. ANOWAI.I.S.M. (1993) Development theory and environment in an age of market triumphalism. Ecowmic Gqru&~ 69, 227-253. Row. G. (1993) Fwzi~zirrn and Geogruphy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Ko\s. K. (19X8) Thr Emergence ofSocial Space: Rimbattd and the Putis Commute. Basingstoke: Macmillan. RoI~I.I~I.. I’. (1992) Putting politics in its place: Bdliapal, India, as a terrain of resistance. Polilicul Geogrupb,y 11, 58X-61 1 KOI 1I.LIx;~., 1’.(1993) Ttrruias ofR&stunce. Nom~iolnzt Sociui Movements and the Covtestation of Place i?z India. Westport, CT: Prdeger. Ror ‘III o<,I, P.(1994) Udckstreets, barricades and blackouts: Nepal’s urban terrains of resistance. So&@ a,zdSpacr 12, 559-57X. SAID,E (1983) 7’Ix World, the Text, and the Critic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Scrn-I, J. C (1990) Domixutio?z and the Arts of‘Re&ance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. SI.I.~~IINI.. I). (1977) Apz Eye to India. New York: Penguin. SIIAKI:G. (1973) The Politics of No’olzviolentAction. Boston, MA: Porter Sargent. SI~KI: G. (19X0) Sociul Power uad Political Freedom Boston, MA: Porter Sargent. SI.AI.IFH. I) 1.1).(1985) New Sociul Movements und the St&? in Latin America. Amsterddnl: CEDLA. SIAKR. D. (1993) The geopolitical imagination and the enframing of development theory. Trunsuctions qf th Institute ofBritish &ogrupben 18(4) 419-437. SUAK.I,13. (1985) MicbeI Foucuult. London: Routledge. S~aw, G. C. (19Xx) Can the subaltern speak? In Mumism and the Interpretation qf Czrlttrre (C. Nelson and L. Grossberg, eds), pp. 271-313. Urbdw, IL: University of Chicago Press. TII.I.>,C (1978) From Mobilizutiotz to Rez~olutioa Reading, MA: Addison:Wesley. To~wwnl-, A. (19X1) The Ibice mzd the &A+ An A?zu!ysis of Social Mozxment.s. Cambridge: Cambridge IJniversity Press. T(IIIKAIPIE, A. (1985) An introduction to the study of social movements. Social Resazrch 52(4), 749-787. To~ww~nr, A. (1988) Tht! Retztrn o/the Actor Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. VIIVANAI.IIAN, S. (1985) From the annals of the kIh0KiKxy state. Lokqun Bull&in 3(4), 23-47. WII~~MOHI , S. ANI) BOI~UII:H,S. (1993) Bdrgdining with nature: the discourse and practice of ‘environmental planning gdin’. Trurzsuctiotzs of the Institztte of British Geogruph~n- 18, 166-178.