FILM: Micronations by Samuel Garrett
Not all nations are created equal. Though we often think of concepts such as sovereignty, nationhood and governance as inherently tied to the public good, they are often intertwined with private commercial interests. Studying micronations – small areas over which an individual or group makes an unrecognized claim to sovereignty – allows us to better examine this apparent conflict of interest and commodification of sovereignty in microcosm. When micronations exist at sea they often take advantage of island imaginaries to capitalize on isolation and escapism so as to strengthen their position. Micronations represent a physical appropriation of space for resource accumulation, just as flags of convenience allow for the outsourcing of nationality. In this sense, they become nations of convenience. This presentation uses the example of the so-called Republic of Minerva to interrogate these concepts. The Republic of Minerva was established on the unclaimed Minerva reefs of the South Pacific in 1972, precipitating a diplomatic scandal amongst regional states. The brainchild of wealthy American businessmen, Minerva was seen as a challenge to established norms of sovereignty and nationality, leading to its rapid dissolution. Yet the rationale that drove Minerva’s establishment continues to manifest itself in modern movements such as seasteading. Examining the micronation as an institution allows us to consider the intertwining of the sea with value production, profiteering and exploitation. Rather than being indicative of a post-national world beyond the constraints of states and borders, micronations ultimately reaffirm the centrality of the state to regulation and authority at sea.
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