Geopolitics of Urban Squares: Atmospheric Securitisation and Counterterrorism in Everyday Urban Spaces in Berlin
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In this article, we scrutinise the concept of 'affective atmosphere' at the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, Germany. By unpacking key moments and elements in the Breitscheidplatz's history, when measures of security and counterterrorism transformed, we investigate how the felt experience of city dwellers and users of the square altered. We argue that the concept of atmosphere, taking the affective dimension of urban life into account, offers an enriching layer of understanding the everyday life in European cities. By focusing on the spatial and affective securitisation that was implemented before and after the attack in 2016, this paper converges everyday urban geopolitics and the concept of affective atmospheres. Bringing together the engagement with experiences of everyday urban life and the atmospheric situation that security and counter-terrorism measure entail in European urban spaces. This paper approximates the felt experience and intangible elements with the help of sensory ethnographies. Shedding light on the aesthetic and sensorial paradoxes of securitisation and counterterrorism measures, hegemonic practices of affective politics and discriminatory spatial expulsion are unravelled.
Source: Geopolitics
Authors: Katharina Ciax, Simon Runkel
Institution: Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Language: English
Topic: Spatial and Cultural Studies
Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
OpenAlex ID: W4390501004