Short Abstract

This panel explores places previously understood as ‘peripheral’ that are (re-)emerging as ‘centers’ in a polarised, saturated, and interconnected world. As maps are revised and territories revalued, we ask: For whom, and when, is a place considered central or peripheral—and why may it matter?

Long Abstract

This panel explores how places typically considered ‘peripheral’ may (re-)emerge as ‘centers’ in a polarised, saturated, and interconnected world. Ideas of ‘center’ (as hubs of activity, influence, or strategic interest) and ‘periphery’ (as distant, subordinate, or unimportant) were central to dependency theories of the 1960s-70s, where they were used to explain development and underdevelopment through the lens of capitalist expansion. The concepts have also been applied to more local contexts, particularly to understand interdependencies between cities and the countryside.

However, both ‘center’ and ‘periphery’ can be problematic and misleading terms, especially when applied literally to areas and ideas. Places understood as peripheries to some may be central to others, and the experience or status of a place may shift depending on geopolitical dynamics, technological developments, nostalgia, or changing cultural values. In the panel, we invite papers that ethnographically explore the potential of places previously understood as ‘peripheral’ that are 'becoming (again)' in a world increasingly without a clear center. As maps are revised and territories revalued, we respond: For whom, and when, is a place considered central or peripheral—and why may it matter?

By focusing on the ‘becomings’ of previously ‘peripheral’ locations, we examine how new strategic relationships, resource demands, or infrastructure projects reveal shifting and contested understandings of place. In doing so, we adjust the anthropological lens, which has more commonly sought out sites of enduring displacement (e.g., the post-colonial) or loss of prominence (e.g., the post-industrial) when engaging with peripheral concerns. Instead, we explore places whose (re-)emerging qualities challenge and inspire claims to both periphery and center—including seasonal settlements, remote working villages, digital nations, and outer space—and the contexts through which these evaluations are made.

This Panel has 2 pending paper proposals.
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