Abstract

It has been a long time since we last spoke. I finally sorted out what the doctoral thesis was about, I think. I submitted it, anyway, in March 2018. Then, I had the oral defense in June 2018. I passed with minor corrections. I spent the summer in the North Country USA working on those corrections and I sent them to the internal examiner for the final review this week. I think I should probably say a bit more than that but for right now, I am going to give you the abstract. I can give you the details later. Things always make a lot more sense in hindsight.

 

Crumlin Road Gaol, 2015 (Photo: Sarah Feinstein)

 

ABSTRACT

Present-ing The Past: Cultural Production and Heritage Management of Former Security Sites Maze Long Kesh Prison and Ebrington Barracks, 2000-2015

The research objective of this thesis is to understand how heritage management and cultural policy influence discourses of social recognition and reconciliation in societies transitioning from conflict. Using the case study of Northern Ireland, the thesis aims to explore cultural policy processes for heritage management that are site-specific, that promote social justice outcomes and that engender cultural democracy. It does so through an analysis of the relationship between participation, representation and recognition in six site-specific cultural projects staged post-closure at the former security sites of Maze and Long Kesh Prison (Lisburn) and Ebrington Barracks (Derry/Londonderry). The thesis uses a constructivist grounded theory approach and draws from theoretical work of scholars such as Laurajane Smith, Nancy Fraser, Paul Connerton and Chantal Mouffe to analyse original data from over 60 semi-structured interviews with arts administrators, creative practitioners, policy makers, and academic scholars. Specifically, this thesis seeks to determine what micro and macro impacts the cultural projects under study have had in the symbolic landscape of the cultural public sphere in Northern Ireland, as well as the effect they have had on the individuals who were involved in their production and reception. The dynamics of understanding heritage management through this lens offers unique insights into culture’s relationship to peacebuilding for societies transitioning from political violence and can make a contribution to the broader discourses of critical heritage studies and cultural policy.

Lost and Found

On a sweltering afternoon (two years before I began my PhD) shifting through the family storage unit in Detroit, I found a six-inch badge. The badge shows my childhood self, grinning madly with eyes closed, standing in front of the Irish tri-colour flag, wearing a badge with the words “UNITED IRELAND” emblazed in capital letters around a green shamrock. I don’t have any memory of this event, although the physical evidence of it is proof enough to convince me that it happened. On finding the badge, I wondered (and still wonder) what exactly were the circumstances of this photograph being taken – let alone a badge being made to record it. You are perhaps wondering why I am telling you this in a blog about my PhD research.

The one question all PhD students are asked is how and why they chose the subject of their PhD. Like most who commit themselves to pursuing a PhD, I saw it as an opportunity for both professional and personal development. Professionally, my initial entry into the cultural sector was on a project working with incarcerated youth that was coordinated by Susan Warner at the Washington State Historical Society. The project was to create a traveling exhibition through a series of artist residencies in correctional facilities on the theme of “A Changed World.” What I learned was both about the power and importance of self-representation, as well as the significance of the arts as a platform for dialogue on issues of social and economic justice. Since then, I have maintained an interest in the arts as a catalyst for change, seeing both intrinsic and instrumental value in cultural engagement. Developing that professional interest in representation and creative practice into an academic subject made sense to me. But on a personal level, we are back to that badge.

Like a great many Americans, branches of my family tree have roots in Ireland. My maternal great-grandfather was born in Dublin and his father was born in Belmullet, County Mayo. My mom was very proud of her heritage and that heritage, I was taught from her, was deeply entwined with a struggle against oppression. Having been born in 1972, I can remember watching the news coverage of the Hunger Strikes, which left an indelible impression on me as a child. Although both my mother and father were peace activists, I don’t think I grew up with (or developed on my own) a particularly nuanced analysis of the Conflict/‘the Troubles.’ I saw pursuing a PhD on the heritage management of former security sites as an opportunity to build a deeper understanding of history and place. I have tried to embrace what John Paul Lederach calls ‘paradoxical curiosity,’ interpreting that to mean that listening to as many voices with as open a mind as I can is essential for research practice. Almost two years into my PhD, I can say that all my opinions have been both challenged and changed. It is an extraordinary privilege to have such an opportunity for that kind of personal growth. I sincerely hope (through both internal and external dialogue) that I have become more nuanced and sensitive in my thinking about the complex history of the past and the present. The history of that badge may be lost, but I have found (and learned) a great deal on my journey to discover its origins.

I think that answers at least part of why I chose my subject and also gives you a little bit more understanding on where I came from – intellectually and genealogically. I hope to use this space to update you on my progress, both intellectually and pragmatically. When I say you, I mean: (a) the remarkably generous people who have given me their time to tell me about their experiences making art and culture in Northern Ireland/the north of Ireland; (b) the remarkably generous people who have given me their time and support towards my intellectual development as an academic researcher; and (c) my remarkably generous friends and family who are curious for an answer about how my PhD is developing that isn’t “uh…it’s going…um…yeah, it’s going.” (If you are reading this and don’t fall into one of those categories, drop me a line as to how you landed here of all places and thanks a million for visiting – please come back!). I will try to post here once a month. If there is something specific you want to know about, or if I write something that you want to discuss further, please do let me know.

The Means of Production

I have a certain fascination with process. However, the process of doing a PhD requires embracing uncertainty more than I expected. Although, how could it not, when learning requires us to open and to challenge ourselves? When I first sent in my application, I was going to research the Peace and Reconciliation Centre being built at the former site of HM Prison Maze and Long Kesh. One month into my first semester, the funding structure for the Centre collapsed. I spent the next eight months designing a new PhD project. This process was guided by the methods of constructivist grounded theory, i.e. using document analysis, observation and semi-structured expert interviews to generate a research question. I asked cultural practitioners and scholars in Northern Ireland/north of Ireland to identify key actors, events and projects intersecting with peace building, public space, cultural policy and creative practice. I read plays, watched documentaries and viewed films. I bought a new digital tape recorder. I became overwhelmed by my own curiosity and my fear of making a commitment. Then one day in Spring (over coffee), a very kind man (whom had generously answered my emails when I was putting my application together all those months ago) said: “Well, you’re welcome to do your research with the Prisons Memory Archive, Sarah.”  After that, I had a focus and from the remarkable generosity of 17 other people who spoke to me about their research and practice, I had a context to understand some of the dynamics at play. I managed to pass my upgrade and then get ethics clearance to start fieldwork in January 2015.

You won’t be surprised to know that my research question has changed in the process of doing fieldwork. On the cusp of returning, I can at least now answer (with some certainty) what my research project is about – I even have an answer if asked about my analytical framework (but that is a tale for a different post). So, what is a summary of my research project? Well, here is how it stands (as of now):

Nancy Fraser (2003) posits that social justice is achieved irreducibly through dual mechanisms: equal distribution and access to resources, and cultural recognition and representation. This requires a parity of participation in structural and symbolic systems. Chantal Mouffe (2000, 2007) stresses the importance of ‘agonistic pluralism’ in democratic and artistic production, which requires a process and product that holds multi-vocal inclusivity (disensus rather than consensus). The conceptualization and manifestation of heritage management must therefore contend with the political and social history embedded in a site through a frame that resists hierarchical power relations or binary/static representation of space and time. My thesis asks: in societies transitioning from conflict, what are the barriers and assets to heritage management of sites connected to political violence? What are the dynamics of recognition, as defined by the dual mechanisms of participation and representation, that cultural projects engage with at such sites in Northern Ireland/north of Ireland? How does the formation and implementation of cultural policy impact these dynamics? To unpack these questions, my thesis focuses on the cultural production post-closure of two former security sites: HM Prison Maze and Long Kesh (Lisburn) and Ebrington Barracks (Derry/Londonderry). The research is structured around case studies, and uses grounded theory supplemented through a mix of qualitative methods such as semi-structured expert interviews and ethnography.

The Initial Proposal

The aim of this PhD project is to examine what role cultural organizations play in reconciliation and peace-building in Northern Ireland. The primary objective is to determine how conflict, specifically the history of the Troubles, is engaged with by cultural organizations and how the legacy (both symbolic and physical) of the civil conflict is commemorated.  The secondary objectives is to establish what priorities and values guide decision making for cultural organizations, what external and internal dynamics impact organizational goals and projects, what role collaboration plays and how it is negotiated, and what variables lead to successful outcomes. These ideas of conflict resolution through culture and the use of culture for peace-building sit within a broader discourse of critical cultural policy studies of the implicit and explicit instrumentalization of the value of culture. This project hopes to add to the discourse on critical cultural policy and heritage management; contribute to the scholarship on regeneration in post-conflict societies; and provide insight through the examination of initiatives to build strategic capacity for social change.