MF Geographica Helvetica Jg. 67 2012/Heft 1-2 Framing globalization and constructing the world B. Debarbieux, J. Fall, F. Giraut, E. Sohier, J.-F. Staszak 85

Framing globalization and constructing the world: cultural and political approaches

Bernard Debarbieux, Juliet J. Fall, Frédéric Giraut, cal geographies, providing pathways for construct- Estelle Sohier, Jean-François Staszak, Genève ing a theoretically-aware, critical geography, beyond the usual sub-discipline divisions that can be found in much so-called international geography. Here, we 1 Introduction explore this approach theoretically, before applying it to three examples currently considered within exist- In most of contemporary geographical literature, glo- ing research projects: the globalization and rescaling balization is straightforwardly conceived as the grow- of environmental discourse, the circulation of images ing importance of the global level in the organiza- of otherness and the process of othering; and the glo- tion of geographical flux, processes and actions. It is balization of environmental and cultural issues within said to be either the triumph of a single, overarching mountain areas. This of course does not reflect all the scale-level, or, in a more subtle way, the «rescaling» research activity of our department, but gives some of geographical , in which each scale-level (e.g. of the sort of theoretical approaches we adopt for local, sub-national, national, regional) is re-structured a variety of research objects. along with the rise of a global one. A large part of the existing papers on globalization, especially in English- speaking geography, has emerged from political geog- 2 Framing and scaling on a global level raphy and adopted a critical point of view. In most of papers devoted to «the politics of scale», it is said that The of frame has been used in academic lit- post-industrial , fuelled by neo-liberal ide- erature since the famous book by Erwin Goffman ologies, is the main driver of globalization. However, (1974). The sociologist defined frames as «schemata significant contributions have been published that of interpretation» which «enable individuals to locate, deal specifically with cultural globalization (related perceive, identify, and label occurrences within their in particular to migrations and circulation of cultural life space at large» (Goffman 1974: 21). Used that way, models) or environmental governance. the concept of frame refers to a social mode of shaping the external world, where cognition plays a decisive Meanwhile, cognitive approaches to globalization – role. The concept was later reshaped in political sociol- e.g. globalization as a state of mind, as a way of framing ogy and political science discourse, especially follow- reality, as a type of awareness – have been quite rare ing Benford and Snow who saw framing as a way to in geography, contrary to what occurred in (e.g. with Ulrich Beck), (e.g. with Arjun «assign to and interpret relevant events and condi- Appadurai) or in political science. Though working on tions in ways that are intended to mobilize potential adher- various topics and according to various theories and ents and constituents, to garner bystander support, and to epistemological basis, the researchers of the Depart- demobilize antagonists» (Snow & Benford 1988: 198). ment of Geography of the University of Geneva who author this paper all hold an interest in cog- Such a cognitive approach led to two decades of work nitive approaches. Their overlapping fields of interest seeking to explain a wide of social practices: col- share a specific attention to techniques and products of lective action, public policies (Faure et al. 1997) and or figuration (e.g. maps, GIS, pictures) environmental controversies (such as Callon et al. through which a spatial arrangement or a scale-level is 2001). It should be noted that among the scientists who promoted or justified by social actors, including scien- entered this field of research, some left aside the con- tists. Together, we are interested in the extent to which cept of frame/framing and promoted alternatives: ide- globalization is, amongst other things, a cognitive pro- ology, or «référentiels» (as used by a specific cess that relies on the of new key figures French school of political scientists). Due to limited and representations, as well as new meanings and new space this question of naming and labelling will not be forms of circulation that are associated with them. In addressed here. this paper, we explore the connections between dif- ferent fields of our work through the joint lenses of The huge interest for the concept of frame cannot be scaling and framing. We have found this a fertile path isolated from the work of philosophers who, while to follow in helping us link up our different fields of they never referred to that word as a major concept, geographical research spanning cultural and politi- underlined the importance of «discursive formation» 86 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 67 2012/Heft 1-2

(Michel Foucault) and narratives (Paul Ricœur) in the ity, of the problem-setting undertaken by stakeholders, identification of relevant objects of , the of planning, of controversies, etc. (see among a wide motivation or justification of action or the making of set of publications, Aberley 1993; Farinelli 2009; modern identities. Pickles 2004). The same can be said for other kinds of images: pictures, animated , documentaries, In geography, the concept of framing and, more gener- etc. These a decisive role in the way individuals ally, cognitive approaches developed specificities com- mentally shape their environment and organize their pared to what occurred in other social sciences, in par- relative knowledge. It also plays a decisive role in sci- ticular related to the concept of scale. Thanks to more entific argumentation, in the making of controversies than a decade of critical and epistemological work or participative processes. Thus, along with argumen- on this concept, it became more and more common tative framing, «visual framing» (the production, use in human geography to define scale as socially con- and circulation of iconic materials and visual artefacts) structed (Marston 2000), and to relate it to frames. is an important mode or step in shaping reality, world- Scale came to be seen as a product or a of views and institutional and collective action. a framing process. Both were to become so closely combined in constructivist approaches that Based on this theoretical understanding, several Larsen could write that research projects have been undertaken in the depart- ment of geography of Geneva, all questioning the «environmental concerns in important respects are of the global scale-level and the framing of framed and reframed as spatial objects for politics through social issues at this level, but focusing on different processes of scaling» (Larsen 2008: 2000). research subjects and topics.

Kurtz and Moore promoted the phrase «scale frames» defined as 3 Example 1: the circulation of species and globalization of the environment «discursive practices that construct meaningful (and actionable) linkages between the scale at which a social The question of the circulation of living , plants, problem is experienced and the scale(s) at which it could animals and pathogens in a world of accelerated long- be politically addressed or resolved» (Kurtz 2003: 894). distance exchanges is an object of attention of two research projects (Juliet Fall, Marion Ernwein). These Moore stated that exchanges are increasingly framed as a global problem of security within which species are required to estab- «framing the spatial and temporal is central to the lish their right to belong somewhere: indigenous spe- ultimate success of any political project. Consequently, cies are, for instance, valued more than recent imports. scale framing and contestations over scale frames is an Terms, such as invasive, exotic, non-native, non-indige- important object of inquiry in the dynamics of scale poli- nous and alien have been used to describe this global tics» (Moore 2008: 218). swarming of species: plants and animals seen as out-of- place and out-of-control beyond their native habitats, Scaling and framing could then become combined in categorised as dangerous and singled out for destruc- critical approaches: «the politics of scale may often tion (Fall 2011a, 2012). Countries that have ratified take the form of contending ‹framings›» (Delanay & the on Biological Diversity are required Leitner 1997). to set up national strategies to govern and control the circulation of non-native plants and animals defined as Of the other specificities of geographical analysis in invasive, and to list such species on Black Lists (Arti- terms of framing, probably the more influential has cle 8 § h). Changing climates complicate the story, as it been the focus on the production and circulation of is recognised that many species need to move in order images, especially maps, in geographical analysis. It to survive, yet these changes in ecological assemblages has been suggested that the spatiality of images pro- are cast as the problem. duced along with spatial or territorial practices could be analyzed as a specific mode of framing, as an impor- Any examination of the ways in which the question of tant if not decisive step in the «spatial framing» of an invasive species is constituted, and how specific spe- object (e.g. place, area, region) planned, nego- cies are categorised both globally and nationally, has tiated, contested, etc. The map, for example, operates to take into account the particular techniques, data, as a frame, a window open on the represented reality, artefacts and practices that are deployed in order to which makes a clear distinction between what is shown constitute the problem and subsequently – or rather (in-frame) and what is left aside (off-frame). Such a simultaneously – enact particular governmental pro- visual framing is often part of the description of a real- grammes to manage it. Framing is thus not only a rhe- 86 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 67 2012/Heft 1-2 Framing globalization and constructing the world B. Debarbieux, J. Fall, F. Giraut, E. Sohier, J.-F. Staszak 87

torical trick: it is also a fundamentally material prac- particular places. Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), tice. Global, in this context is spatially uneven rather originally from North America, is a weedy plant that than uniform: the consequence of specific connections can create severe respiratory reactions in some people. and encounters that work across and through differ- At the same , it has been quietly celebrated as a ence (Fall 2011b). useful champion by certain botanists who have strate- gically used the increased political interest in threats Scaling up environmental policies to a global scale to human health to raise the profile of invasive plant is not unproblematic in this case: plants defined as species as a pertinent collective category. «globally invasive» inevitably come from somewhere, implying that any global attempts to control them In helping to identify these problematic plants, the have to take into account this question of geographi- Federal Office for the Environment mandated the cal origin, and the very vitality and adaptability of the Secretariat of the Swiss Commission for Wild Plant species in question. The question of scale of environ- Conservation (CPS) to draw up lists. The two perma- mental governance is thus particularly intriguing here, nent employees of this organisation were assisted by as a simple cumulation of local scenarios into a global about 15 other people chosen to represent the diver- framework cannot make any sense. This rescaling of sity of floristic – and political – regions in the country, environmental policy and governance is thus intrin- with specific emphasis on border areas, seen as key sically messy, context-dependent and fluid. Further- entry points for new species. This being Switzerland, more, because these tales tell of swarming, invading, where political sensitivities need balancing, the politi- foreign, and out-of-control , opportunistically cal and geographical selection of members was intrin- playing on other social fears (Fall & Matthey 2011), sically political and geographical. The group included a this often becomes a highly charged and emotional Ticinese, two or three Swiss-Germans, a Genevois and debate, creating new challenges for adapting govern- others specifically chosen because they worked close ance structures to local contexts. to border areas. This focus on border areas is intrigu- ing, yet it directly stems from the choice of the national One starting point of this is the idea of biodiversity, scale as pertinent for recording biodiversity and list- a term that has durably modified not only how we ing species, and the assumption that threats come from think about nature and the environment, but also «outside», i.e. beyond the national borders. These are who is responsible for making and solving problems almost considered given features of the landscape. For pertaining to it. The crucial role of conservation biol- if we assume for the sake of that species are ogy and biologists is well known and documented, randomly spread across the world and are in some centred on an accounting paradigm of numbers of sort of gentle flux, yet are listed and counted by coun- individualised species, discernible on lists and in the try, then surely zones of flux are inevitably going to dynamic assemblages of different species that are seen be focussed on boundary areas, and central areas are to paradoxically both reflect a carefully-evolved order going to be seen as having a more stable mix of spe- and a capacity for change. Yet, perhaps curiously, it cies? New species of invasive plants and animals will is the question of order and permanence that is par- be found at the edges of states, including zones of long- ticularly prevalent in the popular imagination, and distance transport such as freight terminals. The global that paradoxically receives the most attention. Thus, topologies of dispersal may be complex, through long- spatial disorder grounds the problem: unlike pollu- distance networks as well as across adjacent territories, tion or greenhouse gases that are a problem regardless but the concept of «edge» will always be defined in of their location, invasive species are only a problem reference to the national scale at which biodiversity is when they are growing in the wrong place. Ironically, counted. Thus the identification and framing of much in some cases, one particular species can be both glob- of the question of invasive species relies paradoxically ally threatened – and therefore on a Red List in one on the assumption of the state as a given (Fall 2010). country – and designated as an invasive species – and therefore on a national Black List in another, marked out for eradication or at least control. This is therefore 4 Example 2: the circulation of images of others not a clear-cut story of global «goodies» and «bad- and the construction of exoticism dies», as overlapping place-based identities are in con- stant tension. Otherness became a geographical issue with the development of post-modern, post-colonial and queer In Switzerland, the creation of the collective category analyses in the 1980’s. Geographers have had to ask of invasive plants – and in a sense the collective fram- questions about the diversity of groups in terms of ing of certain plants as invasive – as well as the sub- socio-discursive construction rather than in terms of sequent legal instruments drafted to respond heavily supposed objectives of difference, as had been done relied on the presence of one specific plant growing in until then (Staszak 2009). Furthermore, exoticisa- 88 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 67 2012/Heft 1-2

Fig. 1: An Eskimo As a producer of exoticism, the photographer, George R. King, illustrates with this picture the construction of otherness with reference to the «noble savage», who is different to Westerners, as supported by its given caption entitled «An Eskimo family. Tenderness and responsibility in their treatment of children is a of the Eskimo which binds them closer to the brother- hood of civilized peoples». Eine Eskimo-Familie Famille eskimo Source: National Geographic Magazine 1917, vol. 31: 564

tion can be defined as one of the cognitive processes sumption. The exotic is therefore not the characteristic by which Europe, and more broadly the West, built of an object, a place or a human being, but the char- schemata of interpretation that organize and frame acteristic of a glance and a discourse (Gauthier 2008; the world. It gives meaning to it and makes it pos- Staszak 2008a). Exoticism belongs to economic, social, sible to think and practice it at a global scale. Exoti- political and cultural . The exoticization process cism is based on a dichotomic and hierarchical oppo- is related to a central place (European colonial coun- sition between us, here, and the others, elsewhere. It tries), a key moment (the end of the 19th century), a is a generic form of geographical othering, of which founding practice (travel) and specific representations Orientalism is the best-known expression. Exoticism (images, and particularly photographs) (Fig. 1). is characterized on the one hand by the association of geographical distance and the of a sym- The end of exoticism has been often claimed, never- bolical gap, on the other hand by the enhanced theless exoticisation is still at work (Gauthier 2009). of otherness, seen as charming and attractive. This is It takes part in the enchantment of the world exploited paradoxical if one in the universal character by international tourism, television broadcasts (i.e. of . Exoticisation involves a symbolic Rendez-vous en terre inconnue in France), and mar- and material domestication of the world, a making of keting to sell material or immaterial exotic products the world on a global scale. This allowed the other and (presented as «ethnic», «tribal», «of the world»). Some elsewhere to be no longer considered threatening, and places like Tahiti, Egypt or the Arctic region are of par- they subsequently became objects of desire and con- ticular interest to members of the department of geog- 88 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 67 2012/Heft 1-2 Framing globalization and constructing the world B. Debarbieux, J. Fall, F. Giraut, E. Sohier, J.-F. Staszak 89

raphy in Geneva, as well as chosen materials (dance, photography, cinema, zoological garden, tourist bro- chure, postcards, interviews but also scientific texts), specific actors (travellers, tourists, photographs, paint- ers, writers, geographers, movie stars) and practices (tourism, ecotourism, sex tourism, dark tourism: Naef 2010, 2011). In the following paragraphs, we demon- strate through two further examples of research pro- jects how the circulation of cognitive frames and mate- rial objects serves to construct the globe as global.

Images, both mental and iconographical, play a major role in the way people imagine a place, give meaning and coherence to it, and practice it. The expansion of transport and has been accompanied by a spreading of images (as objects) that grounded and allowed globalization, thanks to the spread of new media, and amongst it, photography. Images help to give meaning(s) to globalization and to the meet with «others», to mobilize its actors and to guide thoughts and actions. They assign particular functions to specific political, cultural and geographi- cal areas and determine the way people interact. The terms «iconoscape» or «image world» (Poole 1997) helps to analyse this phenomenon as a part of the glo- balization process and international exchanges. We try to capture social and political relations between image-makers, consumers and areas of imagination. Thus we pay attention to the production, circulation, Fig. 2: Girl of the Preanger Java consumption of images and their relations to political, This photograph displays a woman who is both exoticized economical and ideological changes. We study geo- and eroticized. Through the choice of background, props, her graphical imaginations through actors who participate semi-nudity and her costume, the photographer presents her in this process as creators (Gauthier 2011), or buyers as both an exotic object and a sex object. or consumers of images for different purposes: com- Mädchen der Preanger Java mercial (e.g. tourism), political (e.g. colonization), or Fille des Preanger Java religious (e.g. ). Source: anonymous, before 1880, Geneva Ethnogra- phy Museum, Collection Alfred Bertrand, n° 412610 In order to understand how such images participate in (reprinted with permission) framing the other, and in constructing the world, Queer Studies and the theory of intersectionality suggest that categories of gender, class and race often interact on simultaneous levels. Strangeness and attractivity of the 5 Example 3: the globalization of environmental exotic are often thought of in sexual terms. The indig- and cultural issues enous body (male but most of all female) becomes an object of desire as a result of the qualities the colo- Another series of research projects undertaken at nial attributed to it, but also as a result of its the department of geography in Geneva (Bernard actual availability in the balance of power in the colo- Debarbieux, Gilles Rudaz, Jörg Balsiger, Mathieu nial situation. From colonial prostitution to sexual Petite, Cristina Del Biaggio) brings the two topics pre- tourism (Staszak 2012), geographical imaginaries sented above together: the globalization of the frames and practices are involved in the eroticization of the of environmental issues and the globalization of the exotic. Thus the research conducted at the department making of otherness. The research context chosen was of geography considers the eroticization of the female that of mountain regions and mountain people due to body in painting (Paul Gauguin; see Staszak 2003), the increased interest in mountain issues at a global photography (i.e. Alfred Bertrand, see Gauthier level since the Earth Summit in Rio (1992). An intense 2011), cinema (Staszak 2011), dance (Staszak 2008b) and efficient lobbying which combined the of and more generally within the Western geographical some Intergovernmental Organisations - IGOs, global imagination (Fig. 2). Non-Governmental Organisations - NGOs, scientists 90 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 67 2012/Heft 1-2

and States such as Bolivia, Italy and Switzerland, has tions. With the rise of the global concern for mountains led to the official recognition of mountain regions as a since Rio and Johannesburg and the growing activism specific priority for sustainable development policies, of IGOs and global NGOs, existing associations of and the writing of a specific chapter in «Agenda 21» so-called mountain people have been struggling hard (Rudaz 2011). During this period an intense activity in again against forms of instrumentalization of their mapping (i.e. the making by the United Nations Envi- own image (i.e. the one of «mountain women» for ronment Programme - UNEP of the first global map example, see Rudaz & Debarbieux 2011) and a denial of mountains which is now the reference for defining of their , as well as struggling to get some kind of mountain areas around the world) and publishing has regional (see Del Biaggio 2009) or global recognition grounded the visual and argumentative framing of the (Debarbieux 2008). This led to the creation of a World issues (Debarbieux & Rudaz 2010). Mountain People Association in 2002 and its admis- sion into the Mountain Partnership. The prominence given to mountains at the global level was renewed in 2002 with the International Year of Mountains - IYM supported by the United Nations 6 Conclusion and a large number of States. That same year, during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in These three examples display the close relations which Johannesburg, the Mountain Partnership was created exist between the globalization processes of environ- as a voluntary alliance of interested parties with the mental issues on the one hand, and of the social and common goal of achieving sustainable development political identification of people through the making around the world. It now has a highly heterogeneous of cultural difference and the definition of social roles membership comprising 50 countries, 16 intergovern- and rights. These processes, which are strongly related mental organizations, and 112 major groups, with con- to the production of knowledge, images, categories siderable contrasts in their respective ways of framing (Schaffter et al. 2010), and narratives, mountain issues. This wide advocacy coalition and cannot be simply explained by the transfer to the the newly created illustrate a fascinating global scale-level of pre-existing processes at lower example of re-scaling of environmental issues: the rise scale-levels. Rather, they give way to profound re- of a global concern for mountains involved stakehold- arrangements of geographical entities, social identities, ers at various scale-levels, helped to promote national and political competencies for which pre-existing insti- mountain policies, and initiated a large number of tutional scale-levels are still very much relevant and transnational, regional and transboundary initiatives, according to which new levels, such a regional ones many of them spatially framed at the level of major (Balsiger & Debarbieux 2011), are emerging. mountain ranges (e.g. Alps, Carpathians, Himalaya, Central Andes). 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(2003): Scale frames and counter-scale Summary: Framing globalization and constructing the frames: constructing the problem of environmental world: cultural and political approaches injustice. – Political Geography 22, 8: 887-916. This paper discusses the extent to which globaliza- Larsen, H.G. (2008): Scaling the Baltic Sea environ- tion can be analysed also as a cognitive process that ment. – In: Geoforum 39, 6: 2000-2008. relies on the emergence of new key figures and rep- Marston, S.A. (2000): The social construction of scale. resentations, as well as new meanings and new forms – In: Progress in Human Geography 24, 2: 219-242. of circulation that are associated with them. In order Moore, A. (2008): Rethinking scale as a geographical to link up different fields of geographical research category: from analysis to practice. – In: Progress in spanning cultural and political geographies and to Human Geography 32, 2: 203-225. foster a theoretically-informed critical geography, this Naef, P. (2010): Mise en tourisme et production patri- paper explores how the joint concepts of «scaling» and moniale au Monténégro: Kotor et sa «labélisation «framing» can create pathways and connections across UNESCO». – In: Géo-Regards 3: 89-103. the usual sub-discipline divisions that can be found in Naef, P. (2011): Du traumascape au touristscape: much so-called international geography. It explores 92 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 67 2012/Heft 1-2

this approach theoretically, before applying it to three Formen der Zirkulation, die damit verbunden sind, examples currently considered within existing research beruht. Um verschiedene Felder geographischer For- projects: the globalization and rescaling of environ- schung zu verbinden, die Kultur- und Politische Geo- mental discourse; the circulation of images of other- graphie umspannen, und um eine theoretisch-infor- ness and process of othering; and the globalization of mierte Kritische Geographie zu fördern, untersucht environmental and cultural issues within mountain dieser Beitrag, wie die gemeinsamen Konzepte von regions. «scaling» und «framing» Wege und Verbindungen über die gewohnten subdisziplinären Einteilungen hinaus Keywords: environment, globalization, framing, moun- kreieren können, welche in der sogenannten Interna- tain regions, othering, scale tionalen Geographie gefunden werden können. Der Beitrag untersucht diesen Zugang theoretisch, bevor Résumé: Donner un cadre à la mondialisation et er auf drei Beispiele angewandt wird, die gegenwär- construire le monde: approches culturelles et poli- tig innerhalb aktueller Forschungsprojekte betrachtet tiques werden: die Globalisierung und die Veränderungen Dans quelle mesure la mondialisation peut-elle être des Massstabes in Umwelt-Diskursen, die Zirkulation aussi analysée comme un processus cognitif, fondé sur von Bildern des Anderen und der Prozesse der Exo- l’émergence et la circulation de nouvelles représenta- tisierung sowie die Globalisierung von Umwelt- und tions? Pour répondre à cette question, il est nécessaire kulturellen Sachverhalten in Berggebieten. de mettre en rapport plusieurs champs de recherche en géographie, en particulier de décloisonner la géo- Schlüsselwörter: Umwelt, Globalisierung, «framing», graphie politique et la géographie culturelle, et de Berg, Exotisierung, Massstab tenter de théoriser une géographie critique. Cet article suggère de le faire autour des concepts liés d’échelle et de cadrage, qui conduisent à dépasser la division de la géographie en sous-disciplines. La première partie de l’article explore ces pistes sur un plan théorique. La seconde l’applique à trois exemples, qui corres- pondent à autant de programmes de recherche: la Prof. Dr. Bernard Debarbieux, Prof. Dr. Juliet J. Fall, mondialisation et les changements d’échelle des dis- Prof. Dr. Frédéric Giraut, Dr. Estelle Sohier, Prof. cours environnementalistes, la circulation des images Dr. Jean-François Staszak, Département de Géogra- de l’autre et les processus d’exotisation, les enjeux phie, Université de Genève, 40 Bd du Pont-d’Arve, environnementaux et culturels de la mondialisation CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland. dans les zones de montagne. e-mail: [email protected] Mots-clés: environnement, exotisation, cadrage, [email protected] échelle, mondialisation, montagne [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Zusammenfassung: Globalisierung und Konstruktion der Welt: kulturelle und politische Ansätze Dieser Beitrag diskutiert das Ausmass, in welchem Manuskripteingang/received/manuscrit reçu le Globalisierung auch als ein kognitiver Prozess ana- 1.9.2011 lysiert werden kann, der auf der Entstehung von Annahme zum Druck/accepted for publication/accepté neuen Schlüsselfiguren sowie neuen Bedeutungen und pour publication: 17.4.2012