On April 3rd Chris Romanos will defend his PhD thesis entitled:
Liquid Territories
Configurations of geographic space in the cartographic projections of the Mekong River’s catchment areas
The role played by the Mekong River in the organization of land and people is inextricably linked with a particular spatial category. The concept of the hydrological catchment extends the space of the river far beyond the limits of perennial waterbodies to encompass vast areas inhabited by millions of people speaking different languages. Fundamental to the estimation of precipitation and water volume, areal denotations of the Mekong’s basin, delta and floodplain have been repeatedly drawn on maps by geographers, planners, engineers and
cartographers.
With diverging intentions, distinct and sometimes conflicting projections of the Mekong’s catchments have prescribed the differentiation and unification of geographic space to articulate liquid territories that extend beyond a single state’s jurisdiction. To understand how the Mekong’s catchments emerge as the geographic reference for human activities, the dissertation examines the technical and cultural notions that underpin the preparation of these maps. Drawing on the discourses of hydrology, geography, cartography as well as infrastructure design, military science, geopolitics and regional planning the research asks what territories are produced and maintained by specifying the geography of the river’s flows.
The maps will be displayed in an exhibition on the East Wing corridor, 1st floor at the Faculty from April 3rd.
Promotor: Dr. ir. M. G. H. Schoonderbeek
Co-promotor: Dr. J. R. T. van der Velde
Comments