A Step Outside: Observations from the World's Youngest State. Issue 11 (4th November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bachmann, Veit
• Is Part Of: Geography compass. Volume 7:Issue 11(2013:Nov.)
• Page Start: 778
• Page End: 789
• Publication Date: 2013-11-04
• Subjects: Geography -- Periodicals; Geography -- Research -- Periodicals; 910.5
• DOI: 10.1111/gec3.12074
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-8198

Abstract

Abstract: The following text provides observations and reflections based on a visit to the South Sudanese capital of Juba in February 2012. Specifically, it addresses three aspects: (i) the Kenyan involvement in South Sudan as (perceived) sub‐imperialism; (ii) the place of the European Union (EU) compound, the collective space of the embassies of the EU and its member states in Juba; and (iii) a twofold plea for normativity in human geographic research and in the civilian aspects of the European integration process. Through these observations, this paper suggests a 'grounded geopolitical research at the margins' involving locally embedded fieldwork in a variety of empirical settings, including geopolitically marginalized ones. In so doing, I highlight how a 'step outside' the box of our accustomed intellectual (and geographical) environment provides not only a better understanding of different geopolitical conditions, assumptions and narratives but also fresh perspectives on our own ones.