Diplomacy under siege: Belgium's diplomatic patrimony and political target during the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and the Lumumba Assassinatio (1961)

Diplomatic architecture has traditionally been perceived as a tool by which state actors legitimate themselves on foreign soil by cultivating a national image. In times of international crisis, however, its representational function can change overnight. Poised to strike at the very symbol represent...

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Hauptverfasser: Rottiers, Charlotte (VerfasserIn), Maeyer, Bram De (VerfasserIn)
Format: Artikel
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2023
Schlagworte:
Zusammenfassung:Diplomatic architecture has traditionally been perceived as a tool by which state actors legitimate themselves on foreign soil by cultivating a national image. In times of international crisis, however, its representational function can change overnight. Poised to strike at the very symbol representing a foreign government abroad, demonstrators have attacked diplomatic buildings to show their political discontent. Charlotte Rottiers and Bram De Maeyer shed light on how Belgian diplomatic premises turned into arenas of contestation and conflict through two case studies devoted to the growing outrage with King Leopold II’s neo-imperial policy and its colonial legacy, more specifically the mediatised assaults on the diplomatic premises in China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and the string of violent incidents at Belgian embassies following the assassination of the first Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in 1961. This chapter shows how demonstrators resorted to architectural iconoclasm, redirecting their discontent with Belgian foreign policy towards the country’s diplomatic patrimony. In doing so, it makes the case that state actors are not the only ones that have the power and means to attribute meaning to their diplomatic buildings and interior spaces. Attacks and the subsequent destruction as well, or even more so, serve as key moments that expose the fluctuating and multi-layered meaning of diplomatic architecture.
Beschreibung:Illustrationen
ISBN:978-1-03-222318-6

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