The next steps in grounding the "View from Nowhere"

Abstract

In recent years the rise of remote sensing (RS) imagery in international human rights (IHR) advocacy has begun to draw significant critical attention from the academic community. Several prominent critiques have emerged from this literature, highlighting some areas of concern in the interpretation of the vision of RS that permeates the modern IHR community. However, I identify three significant reasons that the role of RS in IHR investigations is often misinterpreted: (1) the notion of RS as a source of prima facie evidence, (2) the weight given to published INGO imagery and analysis, and (3) a limited exploration of the ways in which RS use continues to evolve. As part of an ongoing effort to engage scholars and practitioners in a rigorous debate over the practical and epistemological implications that stem from the use of RS in the human rights arena, this discussion will posit several elements from a critical remote sensing (CRS) perspective where further research is warranted; Specifically, concerns over the evolving political economy of the RS industry, the implications for IHR actors of an expanding RS marketplace, and the rise of amateur RS analysts and Open Source Investigation (OSI) methodologies as narrative creators on the international plane. As a result of these kinds of developments, scholars engaged in critical assessments of the use of RS in IHR contexts face evolving concerns, particularly in light of the rise of counter-argument (or even counter-factual) RS use by both State and non-State actors alike. In essence, as the “view from nowhere” becomes more pervasive, so does the need for greater critical attention.