Topological twists

Abstract

The pervasive quality of governments to reach directly into our lives, the striking ability of far-flung corporations to make their presence felt at close quarters, and the ease with which NGOs fold distant harms into local campaigns all speak to a world in which distances are no longer a good indication of either separation or proximity. Such actions speak to a world in which proximity and distance play across one another, where topology not topography, it is argued, offers a better starting point to grasp many of the spatial and temporal dynamics involved. The article sets out the limits of territorial and networked approaches to power and goes on to show how the ability  of powerful bodies to draw distant others within close reach or construct the close-at-hand at a distance opens up an understanding of power more in tune with the spatial reworkings of authority and influence today. More significantly, it goes on to illustrate how power-topologies enable actors to register their presence through quieter, less brash forms of power than domination and overt control, and, in so doing, allow some actors to exert an influence and reach way beyond their means and resources.