The Mechanics of Sovereignty: Autonomy and Interdependence across Three Cables to Iceland

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines three telecommunications cables to Iceland as material instantiations of sovereignty politics. Tracing the historical case of the island's first telegraph, then examining two contemporary efforts to lay subsea fiber‐optic cables, I show how each cable embodies a particular sovereignty project, which is complicated by the process of laying, operating, and maintaining the line. I develop the concept of mechanics of sovereignty in order to describe the everyday and ongoing work of tinkering with and tending to transnational connections. Contributing to recent efforts to theorize sovereignty as a process and practice (rather than a political abstraction), this research sheds fresh light on the specific relationship between information technology (IT) and the nation‐state: while IT is often imagined as either eroding or enhancing sovereignty, close attention to communications cables in Iceland shows they serve as conduits for both autonomy and interdependence. [sovereignty, infrastructure, mechanics, information technology, Iceland]