Planning to fail? International organisations and the spatial organisation of African territories in the 20th century

Research Project

This project investigates the spatial imagination that mediated the discourse and practice of international organisations in the governance of African territories throughout the 20th century. It examines how legal, institutional and technical discourses have persistently turned to space as a means of administering difference and mediating the participation of non-Western states in the international order. Focusing on historical transitions between successive international regimes, such as the mandates system within the League of Nations, the trusteeships established by the United Nations, and later pre- and post-independence development programs in Ghana, Namibia and Tanzania, the research traces how shifts in international legal status were projected and materially articulated through spatial organisation, in fields ranging from land use and occupation to infrastructure building and urban planning. By situating several case studies, the research looks at how different international organisations mobilised normative categories of international law, such as international legal personality, statehood and sovereignty, through spatial practices. In doing so, it seeks to advance a critical understanding of the spatial dimensions of international law and international governance. It argues that the imagination and planning of space have been central to the reproduction of international order, sustaining both the promise of progress and the persistence of historical hierarchies that continue to shape postcolonial statehood. As part of the Research Training Group Organising Architectures, this project bridges the history of international law with architectural and urban histories. By historically examining the overlapping communities engaged in the planning and organisation of various territories, it aims to offer a more nuanced understanding of international law as embedded within broader structures of unequal power, authority, and resource distribution, which extend into tangible and material dimensions inscribed in space.