Political geography in the field

Final year UCL Geographers studying political geography with Professor Jason Dittmer were in Gibraltar from 4-10 November to learn about the current Brexit crisis from a Gibraltarian perspective, including a briefing by the Deputy Chief Minister, Joseph Garcia.

There were visits to various sites on the island, including Gibraltar’s frontier area with Spain, its Garrison Library and Museum, the Rock’s Northern Defences, and the World War 2 tunnels. To top off the explorations they hiked up the Rock to take in the views of Africa and beyond.

Group members also undertook their own fieldwork, each focusing on a keyword related to Gibraltar using a range of social science research methods to carry out an initial exploration of chosen themes. These varied widely, from the politics of Gibraltarian natural history and anti-Gibraltarian graffiti in Spain to the Gibraltarian football team.

Everyone, no matter their assignment, was confronted by the more-than-human politics of the famous Gibraltarian apes.