The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland
ABSTRACT This article examines three telecommunications cables to Iceland as material instantiations of sovereignty politics. Tracing the historical case of the island's first telegraph, then examining two contemporary efforts to lay subsea fiber‐optic cables, I show how each cable embodies a p...
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crwiley:10.1111/aman.13617 2024-06-02T08:08:29+00:00 The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland Johnson, Alix 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aman.13617 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/aman.13617 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/aman.13617 https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/aman.13617 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor American Anthropologist volume 123, issue 3, page 578-589 ISSN 0002-7294 1548-1433 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13617 2024-05-03T10:47:01Z ABSTRACT This article examines three telecommunications cables to Iceland as material instantiations of sovereignty politics. Tracing the historical case of the island's first telegraph, then examining two contemporary efforts to lay subsea fiber‐optic cables, I show how each cable embodies a particular sovereignty project, which is complicated by the process of laying, operating, and maintaining the line. I develop the concept of mechanics of sovereignty in order to describe the everyday and ongoing work of tinkering with and tending to transnational connections. Contributing to recent efforts to theorize sovereignty as a process and practice (rather than a political abstraction), this research sheds fresh light on the specific relationship between information technology (IT) and the nation‐state: while IT is often imagined as either eroding or enhancing sovereignty, close attention to communications cables in Iceland shows they serve as conduits for both autonomy and interdependence. [ sovereignty, infrastructure, mechanics, information technology, Iceland ] Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Wiley Online Library American Anthropologist |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
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English |
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ABSTRACT This article examines three telecommunications cables to Iceland as material instantiations of sovereignty politics. Tracing the historical case of the island's first telegraph, then examining two contemporary efforts to lay subsea fiber‐optic cables, I show how each cable embodies a particular sovereignty project, which is complicated by the process of laying, operating, and maintaining the line. I develop the concept of mechanics of sovereignty in order to describe the everyday and ongoing work of tinkering with and tending to transnational connections. Contributing to recent efforts to theorize sovereignty as a process and practice (rather than a political abstraction), this research sheds fresh light on the specific relationship between information technology (IT) and the nation‐state: while IT is often imagined as either eroding or enhancing sovereignty, close attention to communications cables in Iceland shows they serve as conduits for both autonomy and interdependence. [ sovereignty, infrastructure, mechanics, information technology, Iceland ] |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Johnson, Alix |
spellingShingle |
Johnson, Alix The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland |
author_facet |
Johnson, Alix |
author_sort |
Johnson, Alix |
title |
The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland |
title_short |
The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland |
title_full |
The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland |
title_fullStr |
The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland |
title_sort |
mechanics of sovereignty: autonomy and interdependence across three cables to iceland |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aman.13617 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/aman.13617 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/aman.13617 https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/aman.13617 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
American Anthropologist volume 123, issue 3, page 578-589 ISSN 0002-7294 1548-1433 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13617 |
container_title |
American Anthropologist |
_version_ |
1800753775311323136 |