Political action and the geography of defense investment: geographical scale and the representation of the Massachusetts Miracle

Abstract

Drawing on the notions of material spatial practice and representations and counter-representations of such practice, the politics of defense investment during the Massachusetts Miracle is examined. Scale incongruities between the material practice of defense investment and the political representation of that investment are found. These incongruities are shown to affect the strategies adopted by Massachusetts peace organizations resisting the defense build-up of the 1980s. In particular, peace organizations failed to address the material implications of halting the arms race. The complex interaction of representations and material practices operating at a variety of scales led to the paradoxical situation in which peace organizations were able to generate strong symbolic opposition to the defense build-up but were unable to persuade voters to adopt measures that would halt it.