For Remote Sensing in Political Geography: Scalar Flexibility, the Ethics of Exposure, and Critiques of the State

Remote sensing is a method little used by political geographers. Such reluctance is partly because the scientific technique employs positivist methods. Political geographers have critiqued these since the critical turn, when the field began to reflexively question its own theories and methods. Yet, remotely sensed data offers a novel way of examining human-environment relationships from the sub-meter to planetary scales. In this chapter, we first briefly introduce remote sensing and suggest tools and resources for political geographers to familiarize themselves with its data and methods. We then explain satellite imagery’s usefulness to political geographers who critique the state methodologically and politically. Finally, we offer a brief case study of Zomia, the region comprising the Southeast Asia Massif. We combine remote sensing and ethnography to illustrate how analysis of satellite imagery can help to escape methodological nationalism and critique the territorial state as an organizing concept both in geographical theory and in society.