Social Science

Geopolitical Domination of Native American Nations
Keith E. Schnakenberg
Dr. Wolfgang Hoescehele, Faculty Mentor

Geopolitics is partly concerned with manipulation of fixed spaces with stable borders. However, many proponents of critical geopolitics argue that society and ecology are made up of interconnecting processes rather than stable spaces, and most attempts to construct permanent borders are violent by nature. This becomes particularly problematic when borders become a means of constructing nationalist identities and deriving a sense of legitimacy of rule. Native Americans are seen as a threat to traditional views of national identity, and the imposition of spatial boundaries across the American landscape served as a form of geopolitical violence against Native American nations. A fundamental reevaluation of the dominant conception of the nation state may undermine colonial influences in geography, and marginalization of indigenous cultures. Using a framework of critical geopolitics, this project will uncover forms of geopolitical violence against Native Americans and present alternative cartographies which are sensitive to these issues.

Keywords: geopolitics, native americans, geography, critical theory, colonialism, borders, violence, indigenous cultures

Topic(s):Geography

Presentation Type: Oral Paper

Session: 44-2
Location: VH 1408
Time: 2:30

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