Mawson and Mirnyy Stations: the spatiality of the Australian Antarctic Territory, 1954-61

Mawson and Mirnyy Stations: the spatiality of the Australian Antarctic Territory, 1954-61

This article focuses on the spatiality of the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) in the important 1954-1961 period. Attending particularly to three key components of polar spatiality—geopolitics, international territorial law, and the built environment—the article analyses the development of the AAT as a unique Australian space. The 1954-1961 period is particularly significant: during this period, the International Geophysical Year brought an unprecedented number of people to Antarctica; the continent’s first permanent colonies were constructed; and, despite Cold War tensions, the 1961 Antarctic Treaty established the spatial configurations and rules which continue to govern the continent today. The article focuses particularly on two key stations in the AAT constructed during this period: Australia’s Mawson Station and the Soviet Mirnyy Station. Mawson is a legal colony, designed to cement Australia’s claim to 42% of the Antarctic continent; Mirnyy, in contrast, is an anti-colony, designed to reject Australia’s claim. How the individual spatialities of these two stations articulate to the broader politics of Antarctican territoriality—and particularly Australia’s claim to the AAT—is the focus of this article.

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