Containing Kassindja: detention,gendered threats and border control in the United States

In 1996, the USA issued a landmark decision to grant political asylum to a young woman, Fauziya Kassindja, due to the threat of forced genital circumcision. The case, Matter of Kasinga, is now a cornerstone in the area of law known as ‘gender-based asylum.’ While the legal victory occurred during a watershed moment for women’s human rights, it also spawned considerable critique for reproducing colonial tropes of third-world women, cultural backwardness, and narratives of rescue. This article offers another perspective by examining key phases of the case that predate the final decision. I demonstrate how logics of containment shaped the case trajectory and outcome. Initially, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) sought to contain Kassindja as a bogus asylum seeker through detention. However, once a powerful advocacy campaign exposed the violence of detention, the INS shifted their containment strategies to safeguarding the legal paradigm and circumscribing its legacy as a precedent-setting case. By focusing on the role of detention and the logics of containment, this article supplements cultural critiques of the case and provides an example of how gender and gender violence can be leveraged by state agencies and actors to reinforce border control and manage refugee/asylee populations.     

An assessment of attributing public healthcare infrastructure damage in the Donbas five years after Euromaidan: implications for Ukrainian state legitimacy

ABSTRACT

From the onset of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, significant damage has been wrought to the public health infrastructure of the Donbas region. To date however, the full extent of that damage which is substantial, has not been documented: attribution of blame for that damage has not been attempted; and the implications for the region’s residents in terms of access to clinics and hospitals has been difficult to assess. This paper presents a spatial database of damaged facilities and relates that to the fighting to assess whether the damage incurred was collateral or targeted. The concept of state capacity is used to frame a discussion of what the consequences are for those residents remaining and for the challenges this crisis presents to the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government.     

Heinous spaces,perfidious places: The sinister landscapes of serial killers

This paper explores the internal and external landscapes of serial killers in the USA, offering a spatial perspective derived from contemporary modes of geographic theorizing. It opens by discussing the varying definitions of serial killers and their crimes. Second, it contextualizes serial killers by framing them within a culture that implicitly condones (mostly male) violence. Third, it investigates the motivations and psychological disorders that produce sadistic human beings devoid of empathy, morality or conscience. Fourth, it explores the spatiality of serial killers in six ways, including their changing rural and urban distribution; the highly gendered nature of serial killers, their victims and the spaces they frequent; the topography of race as it shapes their behaviour; the enormous spatial mobility serial killers exhibit; spaces of the body; and landscapes of fear that arise in the wake of their actions. The conclusion emphasizes the spatiality of serial killers as a significant part of their apprehension. Cet article explore les paysages internes et externes des tueurs en série aux Etats-Unis à travers une perspective spatiale dérivée des modes contemporains de théorisation géographique. Il débute par une discussion des différentes définitions des tueurs en série et leur crimes. Deuxièmement, il contextualise les tueurs en série en les situant dans une culture qui ferme généralement les yeux sur la violence, surtout la violence masculine. Troisièmement, l'article explore les motivations et désordres psychologiques qui produisent des êtres sadiques dénués d'empathie ou de conscience morale. Quatrièmement, le meurtre en série est étudié en rapport à l'espace selon les paramètres suivants: les changements dans la distribution rurale et spatiale des tueurs; le genre (masculin/féminin) des tueurs, de leurs victimes et des espaces qu'ils fréquentent; l'influence de la topographie raciale sur leur comportement; la très grande mobilité dans l'espace des tueurs en série; les espaces du corps; et les paysages de la peur qui découlent de leurs actions. La conclusion souligne comment l'utilisation de l'espace par les tueurs en série est un élément important de la peur qu'ils inspirent. Este papel explora los paisajes internos y externos de los asesinos de asesinatos en serie en los Estados Unidos, y ofrece una perspectiva espacial derivada de modos contemporáneos de teorizar de la geografía. Empieza por discutir las varias definiciones de lo que es un asesino de este tipo y sus delitos. Luego, pone en contexto a estos asesinos, colocándolos en un marco dentro de una cultura que, de forma implícita condona la violencia (por la mayor parte masculina). Y después investiga las motivaciones y los problemas psicológicos que producen seres humanos sádicos, carentes de empatía, moralidad o conciencia. Luego explora la espacialidad de los asesinos de seis modos, que incluye su cambiante distribución rural/urbana; lo importante que es gén ero en lo que se refiere a los asesinos de este tipo, a sus víctimas y a los espacios que frecuentan, la topografía de raza y el modo en que moldea su comportamiento; la enorme movilidad espacial exhibida por los asesinos seriales; espacios corporales; y paisajes de miedo de surgen como consecuencia de sus actos. La conclusión destaca la espacialidad de los asesinos que cometen una serie de asesinatos como una parte significativa de su prendimiento.     

Creativity gaps and gender gaps: women,men and place in the United States

This article situates Florida's (2002) work on creative regions in the United States in the context of a critical discussion of place and gender and investigates the gender–class structure of his most and least creative regions. It analyzes the distribution of creative class, working class and service class occupations by gender within those 21 regions as well as earnings, household income, poverty and educational attainment using data from the US Census 2000. Women and men are compared within and across the two categories of most and least creative regions. The major finding is that the gender gap in earnings within categories of regions is larger than the creativity gap, i.e. the earnings gap within genders across regions. As new technology industries have been layered over old industries, altering spatial divisions of labor, gendered labor remains integrated in largely traditional ways.