SOMEWHERE TO THE WEST’: CONSTRUCTED SOVEREIGNTY AND EVERYDAY GEOPOLITICS IN MARITIME BORDERS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

Abstract

This dissertation explores the territorial dispute over the Spratly Islands through multiple scales, including the international, national, provincial, and municipal levels. The dispute officially involves six claimant states—Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. While addressing broader, macro-level aspects of the topic, this project deliberately focuses on communities directly enveloped and affected by the dispute. This includes ordinary civilians, fishers, and military personnel from the Province of Palawan, Philippines. The dissertation traces the everyday geopolitics of the dispute and, consequently, illustrates China’s rise in maritime Southeast Asia. The chapters are individual studies of components of the larger Spratly Island story. However, taken collectively, the dissertation is generally organized in a thematic arc, tracing Kalayaan and the Spratly Islands from an undefined, vague idea towards a built materiality and increased militarization. The conceptual arc is the process of making the marine space progressively more legible, from imagined, to fluid, to solid, and finally, to a fluid-solid hybrid. This latter phase is illustrated by a fluid, swarm territoriality practiced by maritime militia. The dissertation situates its findings within broader literatures on volumetric sovereignty, nationalism, assemblage, and frontier borders. It develops several concepts relevant to political geography. This includes fluid visions of place and territory, deploying sovereignty, and constructing sovereignty. Using qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews, the dissertation shares the everyday experiences of Filipinos who find themselves on the frontlines of the Spratly Island dispute.