Asymmetries of the Vertical: Mediating the War on Terror from 9/11 to Trump

Friday, February 23, 2018

4:00 PM-6:00 PM

This talk — based on the forthcoming book by Lisa Parks, PhD, from MIT, "Rethinking Media Coverage: Vertical Mediation and the War on Terror" (Routledge, June 2018) — will explore how media technologies and cultures have been organized to reassert U.S. vertical hegemony after 9/11.

Vertical hegemony involves efforts to maneuver through, activate technologies within, occupy, or control the vast stretch of space between the earth’s surface and the outer limits of orbit as well as the kinds of activities that can occur there. The struggle for vertical hegemony is undergirded by the assumption that controlling the air, spectrum, and orbit is tantamount to controlling life on earth. Vertical hegemony cannot simply be achieved “out there” in open skies. To register or take effect, it must be communicated though and materialized as part of culture on earth. This book conceptualizes these processes of communication and materialization as vertical mediations – as audiovisual forms that enact, materialize, or infer conditions or qualities of the vertical field. The talk will present material from chapters that address US commandeering of the spectrum and airwaves, transformation of airport security protocols, commercialization of geospatial intelligence, and deployment of drones for surveillance and targeted killings.

Contact Information

Chrissy Vanella
215.895.2524
clv33@drexel.edu