Radio Geopolitics

Abstract

Abstract Radio is a central technology in both the production and maintenance of the modern world. It continues to be, though, both a medium and a force, not only accessible to the senses but also largely insensible . This article seeks to draw together and reconceptualise geographical approaches to the role of radio in geopolitics. The article proceeds in three sections: The first seeks to briefly situate radio within the broader context of geopolitics and technology. The second shows how the geopolitical status of radio has always been characterised by a shifting topography of human and non‐human elements. The final section looks to the nascent literature on assemblage within geopolitics and international relations that argues for the importance of non‐human objects, infrastructures and forces in the study of geopolitics and, drawing on my own work, offers some speculations as to how research into radio might be conducted in the light of these theoretical developments.