Material Politics: Disputes Along the Pipeline

260 Pages·2013·3.68 MB·English

by  Andrew Barry

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‘Material Politics offers something new and original to our understanding of the global oil and gas a Geographical
industry. Barry locates his study of pipelines at the theoretic intersection of critical science studies, rry Society
forms of rule, and the materiality of resources. He brilliantly exposes the complex controversies
with IBG
produced by actors and agents across the industry’s value-chain, and what they say about how we
think about democracy and capitalism.’ Advancing geography
and geographical learning
Michael Watts, Class of 1963 Professor of Geography, University of California, Berkeley
‘In this strong and daring book, Andrew Barry compellingly shows that it is a daunting task to govern
the materials that make up a transnational oil pipeline, that the production of information made
to foster transparency and calm may fuel ever more controversies, and that materials are not in
themselves political, but may well become so.’
Annemarie Mol, Professor of Anthropology of the Body, University of Amsterdam
M MATERIAL POLITICS
A
Geography and social theory are increasingly recognising the critical role of material artefacts in
T
political life. No longer can we think of materials as the passive, stable and inert foundation on which E
disputes emerge; rather, the unpredictable and lively behaviour of material objects and environments R
has become integral to the conduct of politics. In Material Politics, Andrew Barry develops this IA
argument further, directing us towards an intriguing paradox. For just as we are beginning to attend L
to the importance of materials in political life, the existence of materials has become increasingly
P
bound up with the production of information about their performance, origins and impact. Political
O
disputes have come to revolve not around objects in isolation, but objects that are entangled in ever
L
growing quantities of information. I 2
T 2
DISPUTES ALONG 9
Material Politics traces the emergence of disputes about an object, an oil pipeline, about which IC +6
an unprecedented quantity of information was made public. Following the collapse of the Soviet S THE PIPELINE m
m
Union, the development of the 1760km Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the
Mediterranean was a remarkable experiment in transparency and corporate social responsibility. Yet
far from reducing the level of controversy surrounding the pipeline’s construction, the transparency of
the project engendered a proliferation of apparently minor disputes about issues ranging from public
consultation procedures and the location of beehives and walnut trees to the putative connection
between the construction of the pipeline and bombsites, landslides and damage to houses. The
politics of the pipeline turns out to be not just a story of oil companies, nation states and activists; it
also encompasses consultants’ and engineers’ reports, archaeological sites, documentary fi lms, steel
and chemicals, cracks and corrosion, and mundane objects – trees, lorries and houses. Materials, we
might say, lie at the heart of the eruption of situations that both animate and transform political life.

Andrew Barry is Professor of Human Geography at University College London.
Andrew Barry

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Material Politics
Disputes Along the Pipeline
Andrew Barry
This edition first published 2013
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barry, Andrew, 1960–
Material politics : disputes along the pipeline / Andrew Barry.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-52911-9 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-118-52912-6 (paper)
1. Geopolitics. 2. Materials–Political aspects. 3. Material culture–Political
aspects. 4. Petroleum pipelines–Political aspects. 5. International economic
relations–Political aspects. I. Title.
JC319.B39 2013
320.1′2–dc23
2013018241
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: © Andrew Barry
Cover design by Workhaus
Set in 10/12pt Plantin by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
1 2013
For Georgie

Contents
Series Editors’ Preface viii
List of Figures and Tables ix
Acknowledgements x
Abbreviations xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 The Georgian Route: Between Political and Physical
Geography 31
3 Transparency’s Witness 57
4 Ethical Performances 75
5 The Affected Public 95
6 Visible Impacts 116
7 Material Politics 137
8 Economy and the Archive 154
9 Conclusions 177
Notes 187
References 202
Index 235
Series Editors’ Preface
The RGS-IBG Book Series only publishes work of the highest international
standing. Its emphasis is on distinctive new developments in human and
physical geography, although it is also open to contributions from cognate
disciplines whose interests overlap with those of geographers. The Series
places strong emphasis on theoretically-informed and empirically-strong
texts. Reflecting the vibrant and diverse theoretical and empirical agendas
that characterize the contemporary discipline, contributions are expected to
inform, challenge and stimulate the reader. Overall, the RGS-IBG Book
Series seeks to promote scholarly publications that leave an intellectual
mark and change the way readers think about particular issues, methods or
theories.
For details on how to submit a proposal please visit:
www.rgsbookseries.com
Neil Coe
National University of Singapore
Joanna Bullard
Loughborough University, UK
RGS-IBG Book Series Editors