Borrowing from trans-spatial conceptualizations common to geography and certain veins
of globalization studies, I problematize bifurcated categories common to political science,
international relations and sociology, when discussing transnational collective action and its
sustaining institutions. (Cartier, 2001; Hart, 2002). A blurring of “state/non-state,”
“governmental/non-governmental/intergovernmental,” “local/domestic/global” categorizing
occurs. By using geography lexicon of trans-spatiality, I attempt to push the abovementioned
interdisciplinary conversation one more step forward, in order to help overcome biases that exist
particularly in IR and political science toward Westphalian boundary constructions and thus,
levels of analysis, which are increasingly contested through globalizing processes.
Praxis-based and Theoretical Inspirations
This begs a question: How might we begin to map the ordering principles of post-
Westphalian political communities? Here is a story which offers some insight and which partially
inspired the framework developed in this article.
Seated in the kitchen of the headquarters of the environmental and indigenous rights
NGO Amazon Watch in Malibu, California, overlooking the dolphin-spotted waters of the Pacific
Ocean, I interpreted as U’wa leader Berito Kuwar’U’wa conversed with a group of activists and a
Colombian lawyer from a government oversight agency. This group was working through
multiple strategies and multiple spatial arenas to support the U’wa people in their resistance to
oil extraction, by Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian state oil concern, in and proximate to
U’wa demarcated territory. That was early Spring of the year 2000, when trans-spatial regime
network activities related to this conflict were rapidly expanding. Kuwar’U’wa had appeared days
before at Occidental Petroleum’s annual shareholder meeting, then he had marched though
West Los Angeles stopping traffic with scores of supporters. That year, the U’wa gained staunch
support from three U.S. congresspersons, and two dozen or so more signed on to a dear
colleagues letter sent to President Pastrana on behalf of the U’wa. It was also the year an
Occidental representative had testified, in February, before a U.S. congressional committee,
Meaning and agendas are constructed in relationship, not simply from a “top-down” dynamic.
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Convention