This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Merrick, Ciara A Title: Breathing Shared Worlds Northern Ireland, Territory, and Peace General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. 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Breathing Shared Worlds: Northern Ireland, Territory, and Peace Ciara Anne Merrick A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Social Science and Law School of Geographical Sciences October 2019 Word count: 95,962 101 Abstract This thesis argues the question of peace in Northern Ireland, and perhaps beyond, cannot be founded on tolerance, equality, or mutual understanding among persons. Peace cannot reside within a horizon of sameness, whereby bodies are posited as either dualistic or in-common. Both these positions engulf and dissipate the potential of the in-between as they approach the self and other as known identities graspable in their entirety. As a scholar inspired by a feminist politics, I approach the question of peace as an active, transformative making. This does not mean imposing a fixed, timeless or utopian vision of peace upon empirical reality and critically deconstructing the capacity of the real world to measure up. Nor does it sacrifice the potential of peace to the non-violent or less-than-violent; peace as an impossible perfection always-already subsumed by the originary position of conflict and agonism. Rather, I call for an alternative starting point that holds the capacity to attend to the ethical encounters of peace always- already respiring throughout the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The starting point I opt for moves with, but also beyond, the thinking of philosopher Luce Irigaray. Irigaray conceives of the encounter as a relation of differentiation in proximity active in the sharing of breath. Epistemologically, I trace the movement and materiality of breath through a detailed ethnographic study of an Irish language centre in Protestant east Belfast. This tracing animates an understanding of peace as woven from the necessary relationality of autonomous bodies in active ‘doings’ that affirm everyday processes of socio-ecological care and reciprocity. The political emphasis of this thesis cannot be located in a critical assessment of the ‘what is’. Rather, it moves with an extant, ecological weaving of alternative worlds making peace-full, if speculative, futures from within the immanence of the present. ii Acknowledgements This thesis has, in many ways been a collective endeavour that would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of so many people. I cannot, in these few words, expresses my gratitude to the people who have nourished, supported, and encouraged the making of this thesis. it may, at times, have felt like an individual and detached project but it could never have been done without every one of you. To my supervisor, Mark Jackson and Maria Fannin, you have both been instrumental to this project and to the development of my thinking over the past years. Mark your door was always open and, however busy you were, you always made the time to answer my questions and listen to my concerns. In all our conversations, you expertly and with great eloquence guided my thinking towards the bigger picture, where you illustrated the crucial political claims in question before reflecting them back towards the gestures and moments I was intimately exploring. Maria you introduced me to Luce Irigaray and gave me the space to explore the aspects of her work I found most inspiring. I will always admire your capacity to move beyond critique and see the productive relations and connections in everyone’s thinking. Thank you both for taking the time to read and re-read, for your nuanced comments, your guidance, your patience, and your kindness. I should also thank the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for funding this research. The ESRC provided the funding but securing the studentship would not have been possible without the support of Mark and his guidance through the application process. The ESRC also supported a policy internship with the Welsh Government, which was an opportunity providing invaluable insights to research in a different environment. I am exceptionally grateful to all my research participants who shared their time and stories and, in doing so, intimately shaped this research. My especially thanks go to the peacebuilding organisation I worked closely with whilst in Belfast. I honestly thought they were just giving me a desk but, without hesitation, they opened their arms and involved me in their work. You work tirelessly and with compassion, energy, and sensitivity. Not only did they provide the opportunity for direct experience of the peacebuilding sector and access to their vast wealth of knowledge, but I made friends with some of the most kind, funny, and caring people, who made my time in Belfast so much a happier. Thank you all for looking after me, for keeping me laughing, and for all the beige food! Thanks to you, I will always look back on my time in Belfast with a smile of my face. I owe a huge thank you to Turas. From the outset you were willing to support my research and my journey into the Irish language in any way that you could. Linda and Gordon, I thank you for your honesty and openness, and I respect the commitment and sacrifice you – and everyone who has walked through the doors of Turas – have made in the search for something different and something better. I extend my iii thank to Carmel, Lara, Jim, and Caoimhe, and to all the learners who gave up their time to share their stories with me – go raibh maith agat! I also wish to thank Cooke Women’s Rugby club, Flow yoga studio, and Maitri yoga studio. Flow you provided a guided a practice through which I connected to the movement and materiality of my own breath. Maitri you stepped up when I was desperate, and I thank you for immediately recognising the importance of the stories I have sought to tell. To all the ladies at Cooke, I am still in awe of your skill, passion, and commitment to the rugby game and your team. Thank you for putting up with the endless dropped balls, my constant look of confusion, and my futile attempt to catch the ball with my eyes closed (apparently it helps if you keep them open!). Despite my ulterior agenda, you welcomed me to the team, and I am proud to have been a Cookie. I owe a big thanks to the support of my fellow PhD colleagues who have made what can be a difficult and lonely process easier and more enjoyable. Sam Berlin, Catherine Midwood, Harry Bregazzi, Stephanie Denning and Sage Brice deserve particular mention. Your insights, words of encouragement, proofreading, and cups of tea – or in Catherine’s case the endless glasses on wine – have meant a lot and been massively appreciated. I am very fortunate to have the most amazing friends and family. Their support and encouragement have been unwavering throughout. I owe a big thank you to Becky, Charlotte, and George who have always been there and listened with interest as I talked about breath, Belfast, and Luce Irigaray. I value each of you and our friendships so much. I am truly grateful to my mum, dad, Orla, and Sorcha. Mum you were always at the end of the phone whenever I rang and, whilst you may have felt out of your depth supporting me on this unfamiliar, distant journey, you never failed once; you are and always will be my rock. Dad you asked questions, you probed, you proofread, you explained rugby moves and drills, and you cut out every relevant newspaper clipping. Even from far away you made sure I constantly knew how invested you were in this journey and how proud you are – I appreciate that so much. Orla you didn’t hesitate for a moment when I asked for your help proof reading and, together with Sorcha, I am so lucky to have you both as my sisters. Last and my no means least, my most heart-felt thanks go to Rich. You have cooked, you have cleaned, you have proofread, you have wiped away the tears, you have listened, and you have made the much- needed gin and tonics at the end of particularly hard days! You had little option but to put me and this thesis first, but you did so without complaint.