Dr. Robert Pijpers (Universität Hamburg)
To join the session, please use the following link:
https://hu-berlin.zoom.us/j/61579216272?pwd=NGhQeU15WXYyN0Vlc0RpeXVDWEN6UT09
Meeting ID: 615 7921 6272
Password: 808176
On Thursday, 19th January 2023 from 4-5.30 pm (Central European Time) ETROD welcomes Dr. Robert Pijpers (Hamburg University). Robert will share his research on ´In-depth geopolitics: between socio-spatial arrangements and the politics of verticality´.
To prepare the session and ensure a fruitful discussion we suggest participants read a research paper written by Robert together with Sabine Luning and the debate section that followed the paper, also published in Africa.
Luning, S., Pijpers, R.J., 2017. Governing access to gold in Ghana: in-depth geopolitics on mining concessions. Africa 87, 758–779.
Abstract:
Currently, academic debates are foregrounding the importance of taking vertical perspectives, of staying attuned to domains and dynamics situated above and below the surface. This also applies to studies of mining spaces, not least in those settings where extraction of mineral resources takes place underground. Contributing to this debates, this presentation discusses the concept of in-depth geopolitics (initially coined in 2017 and currently further developed by Sabine and Robert Pijpers) by analyzing three major transitions in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Tarkwa, one of Ghana´s major gold mining towns. In-depth geopolitics can be understood as the (vertical and political) interplay between (knowledge systems of) underground matters and space, socio-technologies of extraction and governance practices. The concept serves as a lens to studying the intricate and dynamic socio-spatial configurations that materialize in (artisanal and small-scale) mining environments globally, and offers a radically ethnographic approach to thinking about the underground and the politics of verticality.
If you have any troubles accessing the texts or further questions regarding the session or the ETROD series, please contact Janine Hauer (etrod@zirs.uni-halle.de).
We are looking forward to meeting many familiar and new faces on the 19th. Please be reminded that we start at 4 pm Central European Time sharp!