Abstract

The modern notion of the landscape of the nation-state, we argue, emerged in part through an ‘emblematic’ fusion of the nation, imagined as a bio-organic body-politic, and the state conceptualised in geo-metric terms as the Euclidean, cartographic framework within which that body operates. The eliding of the geo-metric with the bio-organic has influenced national discourse, law and practice by defining the legal and social right to belong within this landscape in bio-spatial terms. This is exemplified by the international political cause célèbre of the ‘Schleswig-Holstein Border Question’ and its continuing ramifications for the quality of life in Denmark—particularly for those living in the landscapes of state-designated immigrant ‘ghettoes’ scheduled for physical and social eradication because their settlements are perceived as endangering the bio-spatial cohesion of the ‘nation-state’.

Keywords

Emblematic embodied landscape; geo-metric; bio-organic; cartography; homogenising; nation; state; minority; Denmark

Published in

Landscape Research
2022, Volume: 47, number: 6, pages: 811-828

SLU Authors

• Olwig, Kenneth

  • Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG16 Peace, justice and strong institutions


UKÄ Subject classification

Human Geography
Ethnology
Visual Arts


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2021.1893289

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/111532