Recent calls from progressive, subaltern and postcolonial geopoliticians to move geopolitical scholarship away from its Western ontological bases have argued that more ethnographic studies centred on peripheral and dispossessed geographies need to be undertaken in order to integrate peripheralised agents and agencies in dominant ontologies of geopolitics. This thesis follows these calls. Through empirical data collected during a period of five months of fieldwork undertaken between October 2014 and March 2015, it investigates the ways through which an Indigenous community of the Canadian Arctic, Tulita (located in the Northwest Territories' Sahtu region) represents geopower. It suggests a semiotic reading of these representations in order to take the agency of other-than/more-than-human beings into account. In doing so, it identifies the ontological bases through which geopolitics can be indigenised. Drawing from Dene animist ontologies, it indeed introduces the notion of a place-contingent speculative geopolitics. Two overarching argumentative lines are pursued. First, this thesis contends that geopower operates through metamorphic refashionings of the material forms of, and signs associated with, space and place. Second, it infers from this that through this transformational process, geopower is able to create the conditions for alienating but also transcending experiences and meanings of place to emerge. It argues that this movement between conflictual and progressive understandings is dialectical in nature. In addition to its conceptual suggestions, this thesis makes three empirical contributions. First, it confirms that settler geopolitical narratives of sovereignty assertion in the North cannot be disentangled from capitalist and industrial political-economic processes. Second, it shows that these processes, and the geopolitical visions that subtend them, are materialised in space via the extension of the urban fabric into Indigenous lands. Third, it demonstrates that by assembling space ontologically in particular ways, geopower establishes (and entrenches) a geopolitical distinction between living/sovereign (or governmentalised) spaces and nonliving/bare spaces (or spaces of nothingness).

This study investigates the representation of narrative space in the novel and the film of The Return of the King. As the two representations belong to two different mediums, the theories on narrative space in the novel and in the film are examined in order to distinguish between their modes of representation of space. In essence, the theory utilised for the spatial analysis focuses on the content, function and symbolic meaning within spaces, as created by the description of objects, the repetition and accumulation of spatial information, as well as the movement of characters within spaces and the interaction between characters and different spaces. This spatial interaction relates to the events, representations of time and the role of the narrator within the different dimensions of narrated space, that is, concrete and abstract space. The three most significant spaces within the novel and the film, namely Minas Tirith, Mount Doom and Hobbiton form the basis of the analysis, which focuses on the narrative spaces as they are represented. From this study, it becomes clear that there are different levels of meaning embodied within a space: the physical and geographical space, the social space of interaction and the abstract, symbolic space. The significant spaces and their meanings in the novel have been subjected to filmic transformation. Essentially, the spaces in both the novel and the film display the fact that space ultimately influences those events and people who interact with it and vice versa. These spaces thus embody specific meanings, which contribute towards the undertaken journey represented in Tolkien's fantastical, imaginative world. / MA (English), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

<p>This essay examines resident experiences and notions of the Gotland countryside and their ideas about the future. In particular the countryside is studied as both space and place. In space and place people interacting. People are therefore important components in the study of the landscape. One can say that the landscape and the interaction between people affect resident experiences and notions of the countryside, as well as people certainly affect the landscape. From that point of view is the landscape seen as a social construction. Moreover, the study examines the residents’ attitudes to tourism in the countryside, tourists being a group of importance for Gotland’s regional development. The study also identifies reasons behind experiences and attitudes. The study is based on questionnaires and interviews with residents’ and three different groups are studied; the general public, farmers, and public servants, who in one way or another work with regional development.</p><p>The study shows residents’ positive and negative opinions as well as similarities and differences among the three studied groups. One important finding is that public servants tend to think that other people are more positive towards the future than they really are. Nevertheless, positive and negative perspectives are important to be aware of to understand residents’ situation, likewise to be able to have an influence on people, their attitudes and situations. Eventually, it is clear that sense of place and experience of space affect residents’ ideas about the future and vice versa. Therefore these aspects need to be taken into consideration in physical planning and regional development.</p> / <p>Denna studie om Gotlands landsbygd och invånarnas framtidstro är ett examensarbete i geografi, inriktning kulturgeografi, vid Södertörns högskola. Syftet är att beskriva hur invånarna upplever landsbygden och vad de har för tro på framtiden, vilket sker genom studier av tre grupper; allmänheten, tjänstemän och lantbrukare. Vidare är syftet att analysera vilka attityder och inställningar som finns till landsbygden samt identifiera påverkansfaktorer. Studien baseras på en enkätundersökning och åtta intervjuer. Geografiska teorier har sedan använts, framförallt teorier om ”sense of place” (medvetenheten om känslan till en plats). Hänsyn tas till samhällsutvecklingen som gett flertalet konsekvenser för landsbygden och dess befolkning samt turistnäringen som har blivit en allt viktigare näring för Gotland, när påverkansfaktorer samt människors upplevelser, inställningar och attityder undersöks.</p><p>Studien har tillkommit utifrån en förförståelse om att Gotlands landsbygd sedan några decennier genomgått åtskilliga utmaningar, särskilt inom jordbruksnäringen (inom jordbruksnäringen avses både jord- och lantbruk) som är en betydelsefull näring för hela ön. Sedan något år tillbaka har landsbygden på ön dessutom stått inför särskilda prövningar i och med att industrier och andra verksamheter lagts ned eller flyttats. Skolor och övrig samhällsservice samlas allt mer i Visby, som är Gotlands enda stad.</p><p>Den bild som skildras av landsbygden skiljer sig åt mellan allmänheten, tjänstemännen och lantbrukarna. Allmänheten och tjänstemännen upplever landsbygden och turismen på landsbygden positivt. När det däremot gäller samhällsutvecklingen ser tjänstemännen odelat positivt på hur den påverkar livsvillkoren på landsbygden, medan allmänheten tydligt visar en oro för dess konsekvenser för landsbygden. För de enskilda lantbrukarna spelar egen intressen och specialisering inom jordbruksnäringen stor roll för deras syn på landsbygden. Därtill är odlingsförutsättningar på olika delar av ön samt avstånd till samhällsservice (dvs. geologi och geografi) påverkande faktorer på deras upplevelse av landsbygden och är tillsammans med egenintressen också avgörande för lantbrukarnas framtidstro.</p><p>I undersökningen framträder såväl den enskilde personens grundinställning som individuella och situationsberoende attityder. Både mer eller mindre positiva och negativa attityder kommer till uttryck vad gäller människors upplevelser och framtidstro. Sammantaget bidrar människors olika attityder till en mer sammansatt helhetsbild, vilken är av vikt att klargöra och beakta i en utvecklingsprocess.</p><p>Studien visar också att allmänhetens syn på samhällsutvecklingen och landsbygdens befolkningsminskning, inte nödvändigtvis hör samman med den verklighet som råder idag. Bland annat skildras en upplevelse av avfolkning vilket egentligen speglar situationen på landsbygden för tio år sedan. En annan skillnad är att tjänstemännen tror att landsbygds-befolkningens framtidstro är positiv i större utsträckning än den faktiskt tycks vara. Samtliga undersökningsgrupper visar vidare en öppen attityd till turistnäringen. Det finns dock reservationer; att vissa platser överexploateras, att områden står outnyttjade större delen av året och att material, byggnadsstil och utformning stör den lokala miljön. I fysisk samhälls-planering och regional utveckling är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till landsbygdsbefolkningens känsla till platsen, upplevelse av rummet och framtidstro – eftersom det i studien framkommit att dessa aspekter understödjer en framgångsrik och hållbar regional utveckling.</p>

This essay examines resident experiences and notions of the Gotland countryside and their ideas about the future. In particular the countryside is studied as both space and place. In space and place people interacting. People are therefore important components in the study of the landscape. One can say that the landscape and the interaction between people affect resident experiences and notions of the countryside, as well as people certainly affect the landscape. From that point of view is the landscape seen as a social construction. Moreover, the study examines the residents’ attitudes to tourism in the countryside, tourists being a group of importance for Gotland’s regional development. The study also identifies reasons behind experiences and attitudes. The study is based on questionnaires and interviews with residents’ and three different groups are studied; the general public, farmers, and public servants, who in one way or another work with regional development. The study shows residents’ positive and negative opinions as well as similarities and differences among the three studied groups. One important finding is that public servants tend to think that other people are more positive towards the future than they really are. Nevertheless, positive and negative perspectives are important to be aware of to understand residents’ situation, likewise to be able to have an influence on people, their attitudes and situations. Eventually, it is clear that sense of place and experience of space affect residents’ ideas about the future and vice versa. Therefore these aspects need to be taken into consideration in physical planning and regional development. / Denna studie om Gotlands landsbygd och invånarnas framtidstro är ett examensarbete i geografi, inriktning kulturgeografi, vid Södertörns högskola. Syftet är att beskriva hur invånarna upplever landsbygden och vad de har för tro på framtiden, vilket sker genom studier av tre grupper; allmänheten, tjänstemän och lantbrukare. Vidare är syftet att analysera vilka attityder och inställningar som finns till landsbygden samt identifiera påverkansfaktorer. Studien baseras på en enkätundersökning och åtta intervjuer. Geografiska teorier har sedan använts, framförallt teorier om ”sense of place” (medvetenheten om känslan till en plats). Hänsyn tas till samhällsutvecklingen som gett flertalet konsekvenser för landsbygden och dess befolkning samt turistnäringen som har blivit en allt viktigare näring för Gotland, när påverkansfaktorer samt människors upplevelser, inställningar och attityder undersöks. Studien har tillkommit utifrån en förförståelse om att Gotlands landsbygd sedan några decennier genomgått åtskilliga utmaningar, särskilt inom jordbruksnäringen (inom jordbruksnäringen avses både jord- och lantbruk) som är en betydelsefull näring för hela ön. Sedan något år tillbaka har landsbygden på ön dessutom stått inför särskilda prövningar i och med att industrier och andra verksamheter lagts ned eller flyttats. Skolor och övrig samhällsservice samlas allt mer i Visby, som är Gotlands enda stad. Den bild som skildras av landsbygden skiljer sig åt mellan allmänheten, tjänstemännen och lantbrukarna. Allmänheten och tjänstemännen upplever landsbygden och turismen på landsbygden positivt. När det däremot gäller samhällsutvecklingen ser tjänstemännen odelat positivt på hur den påverkar livsvillkoren på landsbygden, medan allmänheten tydligt visar en oro för dess konsekvenser för landsbygden. För de enskilda lantbrukarna spelar egen intressen och specialisering inom jordbruksnäringen stor roll för deras syn på landsbygden. Därtill är odlingsförutsättningar på olika delar av ön samt avstånd till samhällsservice (dvs. geologi och geografi) påverkande faktorer på deras upplevelse av landsbygden och är tillsammans med egenintressen också avgörande för lantbrukarnas framtidstro. I undersökningen framträder såväl den enskilde personens grundinställning som individuella och situationsberoende attityder. Både mer eller mindre positiva och negativa attityder kommer till uttryck vad gäller människors upplevelser och framtidstro. Sammantaget bidrar människors olika attityder till en mer sammansatt helhetsbild, vilken är av vikt att klargöra och beakta i en utvecklingsprocess. Studien visar också att allmänhetens syn på samhällsutvecklingen och landsbygdens befolkningsminskning, inte nödvändigtvis hör samman med den verklighet som råder idag. Bland annat skildras en upplevelse av avfolkning vilket egentligen speglar situationen på landsbygden för tio år sedan. En annan skillnad är att tjänstemännen tror att landsbygds-befolkningens framtidstro är positiv i större utsträckning än den faktiskt tycks vara. Samtliga undersökningsgrupper visar vidare en öppen attityd till turistnäringen. Det finns dock reservationer; att vissa platser överexploateras, att områden står outnyttjade större delen av året och att material, byggnadsstil och utformning stör den lokala miljön. I fysisk samhälls-planering och regional utveckling är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till landsbygdsbefolkningens känsla till platsen, upplevelse av rummet och framtidstro – eftersom det i studien framkommit att dessa aspekter understödjer en framgångsrik och hållbar regional utveckling.

This study investigates the representation of narrative space in the novel and the film of The Return of the King. As the two representations belong to two different mediums, the theories on narrative space in the novel and in the film are examined in order to distinguish between their modes of representation of space. In essence, the theory utilised for the spatial analysis focuses on the content, function and symbolic meaning within spaces, as created by the description of objects, the repetition and accumulation of spatial information, as well as the movement of characters within spaces and the interaction between characters and different spaces. This spatial interaction relates to the events, representations of time and the role of the narrator within the different dimensions of narrated space, that is, concrete and abstract space. The three most significant spaces within the novel and the film, namely Minas Tirith, Mount Doom and Hobbiton form the basis of the analysis, which focuses on the narrative spaces as they are represented. From this study, it becomes clear that there are different levels of meaning embodied within a space: the physical and geographical space, the social space of interaction and the abstract, symbolic space. The significant spaces and their meanings in the novel have been subjected to filmic transformation. Essentially, the spaces in both the novel and the film display the fact that space ultimately influences those events and people who interact with it and vice versa. These spaces thus embody specific meanings, which contribute towards the undertaken journey represented in Tolkien's fantastical, imaginative world. / MA (English), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In 1997 the University of Victoria began to develop a vision for a First Peoples House with the objective of constructing a welcoming Coast Salish home on the university campus. This vision was realized in 2009 when the First Peoples House opened to the university community and public. Goals stemming from early discussions of a First Peoples House included a house that would support Indigenous culture, community events, and showcase Indigenous art. The First Peoples House represents a case study of how Indigenous artists and their material culture intersect with new Indigenous architecture. This paper is a supporting document to accompany a documentary film showcasing Indigenous artists and key players who participated in the development of the First Peoples House. The purpose of this paper and film is to document developmental stages of the First Peoples House that includes material culture—“art”—embedded within the architecture of the house. Nine interviews include the artistic vision of six artists whose work is represented in the house, and three individuals who were involved in early developmental and current phases of the First Peoples House. The research is placed in a historical context respecting the relationship between Indigenous architecture, residential schools, space and place and material culture. Film adds another dimension to the scope of this paper. Together, the paper and film form a visual and critical analysis highlighting historical shifts along with contemporary understandings of cultural narratives, material culture, Indigenous culture and architecture as integrated within the First Peoples House at the University of Victoria. / Graduate

Cette thèse aspire à contribuer à la réflexion sur certaines formes transnationales de mobilisation sociale de la deuxième décennie du XXIe siècle. Elle propose pour ce faire trois articles qui étudient différents phénomènes à l’aide d’une approche ethnographique : Occupons Montréal, Global Square et le Forum social mondial. Ce travail doctoral s’inspire des réflexions sur l’importance de la spatialité apportées par la géographie critique (Auyero, 2005; Massey, 1984; Therborn, 2006). Il explore également l’ « espace ouvert », tel que présenté au sein de la littérature sur les Forums sociaux mondiaux (Keraghel et Sen, 2004; Sen, 2008; Wallerstein, 2004; Whitaker, 2000). De plus, ma démarche dialogue avec la littérature issue de la sociologie des mouvements sociaux (Fraser, 1990; Negt, 2007; Tilly, 2004), et lui apporte un complément d’analyse en reconnaissant autant les ambitions d’unité au sein des objets abordés, que leur nature complexe et dynamique. Le premier article offre ainsi une lecture d’Occupons Montréal, installé en automne 2011 au sein du Square Victoria. Observant deux lieux précis de l’occupation, il questionne ce que l’observation de la spatialité d’une mobilisation sociale dite transnationale peut nous apprendre sur les dynamiques qui s’y développent. Le deuxième article de cette thèse présente une analyse de deux mobilisations qui ont coexisté en 2013 : le Forum social mondial qui eut lieu à Tunis, et Global Square. Il permet ainsi de faire dialoguer ce phénomène altermondialiste emblématique avec une initiative composée d’activistes de Occupy, Indignados et du Printemps tunisien, entre autres, qui s’organisaient en ligne pour participer au FSM 2013. Cet article creuse l’argument selon lequel les espaces transnationaux de mobilisation sont mus par certaines tensions qui leur sont inhérentes. Le troisième article – co-écrit avec Nikolas Schall – mobilise la théorie de l’ « assemblage » (DeLanda, 2006, 2016; Nail, 2017; Rabinow, 2011) pour avancer dans la compréhension des espaces transnationaux, et particulièrement du Forum social mondial 2016 à Montréal. La théorie de l’assemblage (assemblage thinking) renouvelle les possibilités d’analyse de l’hétérogénéité constitutive de ces objets transnationaux complexes : ceux-ci apparaissent comme le fruit de l’interaction de multiples composantes autonomes (pouvant elles-mêmes être des « assemblages d’assemblages »), faisant émerger un « tout fragmentaire » (fragmentary whole) toujours en construction (DeLanda, 2006). La conclusion de cette recherche doctorale soumet une synthèse de ses apports. Elle démontre tout d’abord comment les dimensions théoriques présentées en introduction (illustrant les tensions transnationalité/ancrage, hétérogénéité/unité, et horizontalité/relations de pouvoir) transparaissent à travers chaque article. Puis, voulant apporter une réponse à la question générale de la thèse – comment rendre compte des objets transnationaux complexes ? – je propose une grille analytique qui permet d’illustrer leur émergence à l’intersection des différentes dimensions analysées. Les limites de la thèse sont également présentées. Finalement, je suggère la pertinence d’un élargissement de la notion de société civile, afin que celle-ci puisse inclure la pluralité des perspectives présentes au sein des espaces transnationaux de mobilisation. / This dissertation aims to contribute to the thinking on certain transnational forms of social mobilization in the second decade of the 21st Century. To do so, it proposes three articles that examine different phenomena using an ethnographic approach: Occupy Montreal, Global Square, and the World Social Forum. The inspiration for this doctoral dissertation are the insights offered by critical geography on the importance of spatiality (Auyero, 2005; Massey, 1984; Therborn, 2006). It also explores “open space,” as presented in the literature on the World Social Forums (Keraghel and Sen, 2004; Sen, 2008; Teivainen, 2004; Wallerstein, 2004; Whitaker, 2000). Furthermore, my approach engages with the sociology literature on social movements (Fraser, 1990; Negt, 2007; Tilly, 2004) and contributes a complementary analysis – recognizing the desire for unity within the initiatives discussed as well as their complex and dynamic natures. The first article offers an interpretation of Occupy Montreal, which occupied Victoria Square in the fall of 2011. Observing two specific locations in the occupation, it questions whether observation of the spatiality of a so-called transnational social mobilization can teach us about the dynamics developed there. The second article of this thesis presents an analysis of two mobilizations that occurred in 2013 – the World Social Forum, held in Tunis, and Global Square. It therefor facilitates a dialogue between this emblematic alter-globalist phenomenon and an initiative comprised of activists from movements such as Occupy, Indignados, and the Jasmine Revolution – which organized on-line to participate in WSF 2013. This article explores the argument that transnational mobilization spaces are propelled by certain inherent tensions. The third article, co-authored with Nikolas Schall – uses the prism of “assemblage thinking” (DeLanda, 2006, 2016; Nail, 2017; Rabinow, 2011) to advance the understanding of transnational spaces, particularly the 2016 World Social Forum in Montreal. Assemblage thinking renews the possibilities for analyzing the constitutive heterogeneity of these complex transnational phenomena, which appear as the fruit of the interaction of multiple autonomous components (they themselves potentially being “assemblages of assemblages”), leading to the emergence of an ever-evolving “fragmentary whole” (DeLanda, 2006). The conclusion of this doctoral research offers a synthesis of these contributions. In the first instance it is shown how the theoretical dimensions presented in the introduction (illustrating the tensions between transnationality/anchorage, heterogeneity/unity, and horizontality/power relationships) are visible in each article. Then in the second instance, wishing to provide a response to the general question posed by this dissertation – how to account for complex transnational phenomena – I propose an analytical matrix for illustrating their emergence at the intersection of the various dimensions analyzed. The limitations of this dissertation are likewise presented. Finally, I suggest the relevance of expanding the concept of civil society to include the plurality of perspectives present in transnational spaces of mobilization.

In the domain of access control, the notion of zone is still ambiguous. The zone demands clearer contextualization that resonates with the security operators in their workplace. Through interpretive research, this project aims to investigate intuitive ways to monitor the overview of security through visualisation and propose a groundwork that can facilitate discussion around future possibilities of zones in physical access control. Based on the sense making process, this project presents three visualisation models: textual, physical, and abstract. Each model explores various representations of zones to communicate zone-to-zone relationships to improve usability. Also, the design work demonstrates diverse expressive qualities interacting with spaces that are physical, conceptual, and logical. In the most practical sense, the zone means groups of doors, however, the zone also embodies an abstract layer of interpretation that is not strictly connected to a physical space.

Generic transformation of the castaway novel is made evident by the various ways in which the narrative boundaries that separate fiction from reality and history, the past from the present, and the rational from the irrational, are reconfigured in Umberto Eco’s The Island of the Day Before (1994), J.M. Coetzee’s Foe (1986) and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (2002). The dissolution of boundaries reflects the dominant shift that has occurred in the castaway novel from the 18th century literary context to the present postmodern, postcolonial context. In this regard, the narrative utilizes various narratological strategies, the most significant being intertextuality, metafiction, historiographical metafiction, allegory, irony, and the carnivalesque. These narratological strategies rewrite, revise, and recontextualize those generic conventions that perpetuated the culture of masculinity and conquest that defines colonialism and the traditional castaway novel epitomized by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719). From a postcolonial perspective, the castaway’s state of being reflects on the condition of the colonized as well as the colonizer: his/her experience of displacement is similar to colonized peoples’ separation from their cultural, spiritual and personal identities; simultaneously, processes of appropriation, adaptation and control of space resemble colonization, thereby revealing the constructed nature of colonial space. As such, space is fundamental to individual orientation and social adaptation and consequently, metaphorically and metonymically linked to identity. In the selected postmodernist and postcolonial texts, the movement from the position of castaway to colonist as originally manifested in Robinson Crusoe is therefore reinterpreted and recontextualized. The postmodernist and postcolonial contexts resist fixed and one-dimensional representations of identity, as well as the appropriation and domination of space, that characterize shipwreck literature from pre-colonial and colonial periods. Rationalist notions of history, reality and truth as empirically definable concepts are also contested. The castaway identity is often characterized by feelings of physical and spiritual displacement and estrangement that can be paralleled to postmodernist themes of existential confusion and anxiety. / Thesis (PhD (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Generic transformation of the castaway novel is made evident by the various ways in which the narrative boundaries that separate fiction from reality and history, the past from the present, and the rational from the irrational, are reconfigured in Umberto Eco’s The Island of the Day Before (1994), J.M. Coetzee’s Foe (1986) and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (2002). The dissolution of boundaries reflects the dominant shift that has occurred in the castaway novel from the 18th century literary context to the present postmodern, postcolonial context. In this regard, the narrative utilizes various narratological strategies, the most significant being intertextuality, metafiction, historiographical metafiction, allegory, irony, and the carnivalesque. These narratological strategies rewrite, revise, and recontextualize those generic conventions that perpetuated the culture of masculinity and conquest that defines colonialism and the traditional castaway novel epitomized by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719). From a postcolonial perspective, the castaway’s state of being reflects on the condition of the colonized as well as the colonizer: his/her experience of displacement is similar to colonized peoples’ separation from their cultural, spiritual and personal identities; simultaneously, processes of appropriation, adaptation and control of space resemble colonization, thereby revealing the constructed nature of colonial space. As such, space is fundamental to individual orientation and social adaptation and consequently, metaphorically and metonymically linked to identity. In the selected postmodernist and postcolonial texts, the movement from the position of castaway to colonist as originally manifested in Robinson Crusoe is therefore reinterpreted and recontextualized. The postmodernist and postcolonial contexts resist fixed and one-dimensional representations of identity, as well as the appropriation and domination of space, that characterize shipwreck literature from pre-colonial and colonial periods. Rationalist notions of history, reality and truth as empirically definable concepts are also contested. The castaway identity is often characterized by feelings of physical and spiritual displacement and estrangement that can be paralleled to postmodernist themes of existential confusion and anxiety. / Thesis (PhD (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013