Beatty Discusses Maritime Disputes and Territoriality in the Spratly Islands

On November 27, 2018, Dylan Beatty from the University of Manoa at Hawaii talked about maritime disputes and territoriality in the Spratly Islands in his presentation, “Fluid Territories: Violence and Fishing in the Spratly Islands”. The event was co-presented by the UP Department of Geography and the Geomajie Core Group and was held in Palma Hall Room 207.

In the presentation, which is part of Mr. Beatty’s Master’s thesis and ongoing doctoral dissertation, Mr.  Beatty argues that “the construction of artificial islands creates emergent yet permanent places of sovereignty that project violent territoriality through adjacent ocean-space”—fluid territoriality. His methodology involves semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from Kalayaan and Palawan, discourse analysis of statements and documents from key agencies in China and in the Philippines, and cartographic analyses of maps from Justice Antonio Carpio’s exhibit and the archives of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Dylan Beatty is a Ph.D. candidate from the Department of Geography and Environment in the University of Manoa at Hawaii. His research interests include political geography, maritime disputes in the Southeast Asia and in the Philippines, and the rise of China as a global power.

By Maria Celeste Hermida