An urban political ecology of empire: Indigenous resistance in Guåhan

In Urban Political Ecology (UPE), the state's role in urbanization is typically framed around domestic governance and capital accumulation, with less focus on the state's role in global geopolitics, imperialism, and empire. This paper builds on UPE's understanding of urban environments as shaped by power relations to explore how US empire, particularly through military bases, intersects with urban natures. Unlike other urban actors who prioritize exchange-value, militaries focus on nature's use-value. Their unique political powers allow them to bypass environmental regulations, transforming urban natures for strategic purposes. The paper examines two aspects of this dynamic: globally, military investments prioritize geostrategic locations and vital natural assets like waterways; locally, they harness natural assets like deep-water harbors, flat lands, and sources of freshwater, often crowding out other kinds of capital-driven urban development or uses. The paper examines the military buildup of Guåhan/Guam, a Pacific island central to US efforts to counter China. The US military controls much of the island, imposing environmental harms on Indigenous CHamoru populations. In response, Indigenous-led environmental groups challenge the military's seizure of nature, asserting alternative use-values, like environmental protection or spiritual use, revealing the limitations of empire's control over urban natures.