Liminal Spatial Praxis in Israel / Palestine and Northern Ireland
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DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Mouth-pieces of the limit Liminal spatial praxis in Israel / Palestine and Northern Ireland Shannon, Aisling Award date: 2020 Awarding institution: Queen's University Belfast Link to publication Terms of use All those accessing thesis content in Queen’s University Belfast Research Portal are subject to the following terms and conditions of use • Copyright is subject to the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988, or as modified by any successor legislation • Copyright and moral rights for thesis content are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners • A copy of a thesis may be downloaded for personal non-commercial research/study without the need for permission or charge • Distribution or reproduction of thesis content in any format is not permitted without the permission of the copyright holder • When citing this work, full bibliographic details should be supplied, including the author, title, awarding institution and date of thesis Take down policy A thesis can be removed from the Research Portal if there has been a breach of copyright, or a similarly robust reason. 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Oct. 2021 MOUTH-PIECES OF THE LIMIT: LIMINAL SPATIAL PRAXIS IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE AND NORTHERN IRELAND by Aisling Ellen Shannon Rusk BSc(Hons), MArch Submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Queen’s University of Belfast School of Natural and Built Environment February 2019 i DECLARATION The submission format of this thesis complies with the requirements of Queen’s University, Belfast and, subject to the examination of the board, for the award of PhD in Architecture. The work presented in this thesis is the original work of the researcher, with the exception of referenced parts. All secondary resources are acknowledged in the references. Copies (by any means) either in full, or of extracts, may not be made without prior written consent from the researcher. No parts of this thesis have been submitted to another institute, university or other higher education centre for anther degree or qualification. For only academic purposes, the researcher presented partially some of the work in this thesis in the following conferences and events: All Ireland Architectural Research Group annual conference, Limerick, May 2012 Presented paper: ‘The Ethical Engagement of Architects within Contested Contexts’ PLACE, Belfast, Invited public lecture, February 2013 ‘The Architect in Contested Space’ Critical Law Conference, Belfast, September 2013 Co-convened a stream entitled: Reconciling Space: The Role and Design of the Urban Environment. Presented a paper entitled: ‘Power, Resistance and the Politics of Shaping Space: Spatial Practitioners in Divided Contexts’ RIBA International Task Group Belfast visit, 7 November 2014: Round-table event at the Institute for Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, Queen’s University, Belfast Invited to present my research on Israel/Palestine, responding to the question ‘Is it appropriate for the institute (RIBA) to engage with communities facing civil conflict and/or natural disaster and, if so, how it can do so most effectively?’ RTPI Young Planner’s annual conference, Belfast, October 2016 Invited presentation: ‘Belfast: The Politics of Shaping Space’ This PhD went through ethical approval in 2013 and has since been discussed with the chair of the ethics committee. Queen’s University, Belfast’s ethical guidelines have been adhered to. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you first and foremost to my hugely supportive, long-suffering husband, Stephen, whose belief in me never falters, who always challenges me to think harder, and who has picked up, with grace and patience, so much of the slack (and the pieces) along the way. And thanks to our children, Finnian and Meredith, for sharing your mother with this PhD (my third child) for the first precious years of your lives. I would like to thank the Special European Union Programmes Body (SEUPB) which funded this PhD through the Planning for Spatial Reconciliation research project, and the Principle Investigator, Frank Gaffikin, and Co-Investigator, Ken Sterrett, for this fantastic opportunity, without which this research wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you to my five first and second supervisors, past and present (the above-mentioned, and Ruth Morrow, Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem and Gul Kacmaz Erk), for the roles you have played in getting me to this point - especially Ruth, for taking me on, for ‘getting it’, and for all your constructive feedback and support. Thanks for bringing out the best in me as a researcher. I am also grateful for the solidarity of the supportive PhD community I encountered in the School and beyond, the many great people I have met on this journey. And for the William and Betty MacQuitty Scholarship, which enabled my return visit to Israel/Palestine. To my mum, Leslie Boydell and dear cousin, Catriona MacArthur - thanks for your proof- reading, cheering me on and helping me keep it together on the home straight. Your wisdom and pragmatism, as PhD ‘survivors’, has been invaluable. Lastly, to all my extended family and friends: thank you for putting up with my absences and distractedness these past seven years; for helping out in lots of big and little ways with the kids (especially William, Leslie, Roy, Margaret, Peter, Sarah and Jill); for wonderful hospitality; for taking an interest in my research, at times, and providing welcome distraction at others. It takes a village. iii NOTE ON REFERENCING This thesis employs the standard Harvard style of referencing, with intext referencing. I have adapted the style in a number of small ways. Interviews carried out as part of this research are identified by the use of the letters INT before the name, for example (INT:Mutschler, 2015), to distinguish them from other sources by the same actors and allow them to be grouped together in the References. Similarly, correspondence relating to the Invitation to Respond that forms part of the methodology is identified by the use of the letters ITR: before the name, for example (ITR:Qaddumi, 2019). The work also relies heavily on written digital sources, such as websites, generated by the spatial practices that are being investigated, which often do not have clear authors (beyond the organisation) or dates. Where a date is unavailable, ‘no date’ is used instead, for example (Riwaq, no date-b). iv GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS ACRONYMS BIMKOM: Planners for Planning Rights, Israeli NGO CIC: Campus in Camps CNR: Catholic/Nationalist/Republican DRD: Department for Regional Development – a government department of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, until May 2016 when, following a restructure of the Northern Ireland Executive, its functions were generally adopted by the new Department for Infrastructure. EFF/JSC: Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and John Smith Charity FAB: Forum for Alternative Belfast ICAHD: Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolition, Israeli NGO IRA: Provisional Irish Republican Army, a Republican paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, active 1969-1998 NI: Northern Ireland NLA: New Lodge Arts (community organisation in North Belfast) OPT: Occupied Palestinian Territories PLACE: Planning/Landscape/Architecture/Community/Environment: Belfast’s Built Environment Centre PS2: Paragon Studios Project Space – a small artist collective in Belfast PUL: Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist QUB: Queen’s University, Belfast SAYA: Israeli architecture practice engaged in Resolution Planning SEUPB: Special Eurooean Union Projects Body, which delivers the European peace funding in Northern Ireland SGCP: Skegoneill Glandore Common Purpose (community organisation in North Belfast) TP Project: Temporary Places Project – a community arts project organised by PS2, NLA and SGCP to make use of underused interface sites in North Belfast. Funded by Belfast City Council's Creative Legacies II programme, part of the Belfast PEACE III Plan funded through the European Regional Development Fund v TERMINOLOGY 11th Night: The night before the Twelfth (see below), when bonfires, sometimes towering structures made of palates and tyres, are lit to kick off the Twelfth of July celebrations 12th July: Ulster Protestant celebration of the victory of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II in the Battle of the Boyne, 1690. Celebrations typically begin on the Eleventh night with bonfires and marches, which can cause friction and protests when parades follow so-called ‘traditional routes’ which pass through residential areas that are now predominantly CNR Agonism: A political theory that emphasizes the potentially positive aspects of certain forms of political conflict, transforming antagonism into respectful dialogue between adversaries (Mouffe, 2014). It represents a democratic approach to legitimising difference and diverse interests through public participation,