While documenting the Old Spitalfields Market in London, UK prior to its renovation in 2006, I happened across a simple yet provocative statement- 'this will all be fields again'- inscribed into the existing pavement in an area just inside one of the eastern entrances. What it was able to report in just six simple words is the inescapable process of transformation to which the entire neighbourhood had been and will be subjected to. Rediscovered in a photograph years later, the presence of that message is explored here. As an instrumental narrative, this thesis invests in four parameters of architecture that are as much a reflection of my own struggle to articulate the experience of both literally and figuratively moving within the neighbourhood, as they are indicative of the neighbourhood’s propensity for fragmentation and fluctuation through time. Throughout this work, I have tried to place myself both on and in the moment of crisis between the opposed binaries of the material and immaterial city, and to write the necessary fiction that might allow me to hold them simultaneously in the present.

This work considers the strategic value of the 1935 London Naval Conference to the United States Navy and the American Government. It addresses longstanding historiographical debates on interwar American foreign policy, including the nature of isolationism under the Roosevelt Administration, the degree of Anglo-American cooperation in the 1930s, and the strategic vision of the United States Navy in the Pacific in the interwar period. Taking into account in equal degrees the perspectives of the uniformed naval officers and the civilian diplomats in the State Department, this thesis will argue that American participation in the 1935 London Naval Conference shows a degree of international participation and a commitment to the international order that is often overlooked by historians in this field.

This thesis addresses the growing impulse towards establishing a public, national collection of Old Master pictures for Britain, located in London, in the last quarter of the eighteenth-century. It does so by identifying the importance of individual conceptualizations of what such a collection might mean for a nation, and how it might come to be realized for an imprecisely defined public. My thesis examines the shifting dynamics between private and public collections during the period of 1775 to 1800, repositioning notions of what constituted space for viewing and accessing art in a national context, and investigates just who participated in the ensuing dialogues about various uses of art for the nation. To this end, three case studies have been employed. The first examines the collection of pictures assembled by Sir Robert Walpole and their public legacy. The second explores the proposal for a national collection of art put forth by art dealer Noel Desenfans. The third examines the frustrated plans of Sir Joshua Reynolds for his collection of Old Master pictures. Through the respective lenses provided by the case studies, it is demonstrated that the envisioning of a national gallery for Britain pitched competing perspectives against each other, as different kinds of people jockeyed for cultural authority. The process of articulating and shaping these ambitions with an eye towards national benefit was only beginning to be explored, and negotiations of private ambitions and interests surrounding picture collections for the public was further complicated by factors of social class and profession. This thesis demonstrate that the boundaries of participation in matters concerning art for the nation were not fixed regarding Old Master pictures and the value placed on them in late eighteenth-century London. / Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2009-01-26 09:01:22.591

Exploring Urban Spaces in the Young Imagination makes the case for taking seriously children's and young adult fiction as a topic worthy of scholarly analysis beyond a purely didactic focus. The recent explosion of interest in this literature among adult readers and the blurring of boundaries between adult and youth media demonstrate that it has become a powerful influence on popular culture and has captured the collective imagination. As the future inhabitants of urban spaces, paying close attention to children’s and youth perspectives can provide fresh lenses, with which to view the cultural construction of cityscapes. This dissertation examines post-millennium children’s and YA fiction and film. Drawing on theories of the spatial turn, my research provides five case studies on a variety of topics related to the contemporary metropolis – ranging from cognitive disability to environmental concerns. Specifically, it pays close attention to the inherent connections between the developing perceptions of metropolises and the various protagonists’ processes of identity formation. Beginning with Berlin, as portrayed in Andreas Steinhöfel’s popular Rico-und-Oskar-trilogy, my analysis explores the protagonist’s shifting perceptions of his urban surroundings while overcoming the limitations of his learning disability. Furthermore, my research shows how Steinhöfel’s Der mechanische Prinz utilizes the cityscape as a mirror for the protagonist’s psyche and how his knowledge of the Berlin subway system contributes to his self-healing. In contrast, China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun explores the ecocritical implications of London’s urban ‘other’, UnLondon. Katherine Marsh’s The Night Tourist and its sequel The Twilight Tourist illustrate the literary construction of New York City as a ‘mediascape’ and modern myth. Finally, I focus on alternative family structures and their connection to urban spaces, specifically Venice in Cornelia Funke’s Herr der Diebe, and Paris in Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The study concludes with an examination of these novels’ filmic versions and their respective romanticisations of Venice and Paris. The dissertation contributes to the fields of child and youth studies and urban geographies by exposing the manifold symbiotic constructions of cityscapes and youth in post-2000 children’s and YA fiction that shape identities and spaces alike. / Thesis (Ph.D, German) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-02 16:56:36.507

This thesis examines Sephardic melodies that were adopted into the liturgy of the Ashkenazic Jews in London during the early twentieth century. The work begins by presenting a history of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews from the time they settled in England to the end of the nineteenth century. Through an analysis of social and religious changes taking place among English Jews of the nineteenth century, this thesis explicates reforms in the synagogue service that led to the inclusion of polyphonic music into the synagogue and eventually, to the incorporation of Sephardic melodies into Ashkenazic synagogue practice. The attempt to canonize the music of Ashkenazic Jews in England was manifested in the widely successful Handbook of Synagogue Music (1889, revised 1899). The second edition is the focus of this thesis. Edited by Francis Lyon Cohen and David M. Davis under the auspices of the United Synagogue and the Chief Rabbi, this volume included Ashkenazic pieces by English as well as non-English Jewish composers. Fifteen melodies of Sephardic origin from the Sephardic compilation The Ancient Melodies, compiled by David de Sola and Emanuel Aguilar in 1857, as well as from The Music Used in the service of the West London Synagogue of British Jews, compiled by Charles Verrinder in 1880 were included in the 1899 edition of the Handbook. This thesis examines the reasons these Sephardic melodies were chosen for inclusion by the editors of the Ashkenazic Handbook during a period of reform.

Genom historien har människor runt om i världen stått upp mot ett beteende de har ansett vara orättvist. Det har förkroppsligats i strejker, kravaller och rentutav revolutioner och statskupper. Lika länge har ordningsmakt, men även politiker, behövt hantera dessa typer av samhällsuppror. Syftet med denna studie är att, utifrån ett policyorienterat perspektiv, undersöka vilka lärdomar Londonpolisen drog av kriser under tidsperioden 1985-2011. Vidare ska det undersökas vad som hände med dessa lärdomar när den brittiska inrikespolitiska agendan förändrades.   Det intressanta ligger i att undersöka vilka lärdomar som kan dras och huruvida sådana lärdomar kan bestå utan underhåll från den politiska sidan och när frågorna på agendan förändras. Undersökningen består utav en teorikonsumerande enfallsstudie av tiden mellan The Broadwater Farm riots 1985 och Londonkravallerna 2011. Denna långa tidsepok är sedan uppdelad i rubriker av vad som var aktuellt utefter hur den politiska agendan förändrades. Däri ligger det empiriska materialets framställning samt analysen i att finna tecken på både instrumentellt och socialt policylärande utifrån Policy Learning Theory. Resultaten i studien visar att Londonpolisen visserligen drog policyorienterade lärdomar efter kravallerna 1985, och detta med ganska enkla medel, men att dessa genom historien verkar ha glömts bort, detta på grund av att de flesta av de åtgärder som indikerar lärande endast var ett spel för gallerierna. Dessa resultat i kombination med teori om policyorienterat lärande förklarar att det är den politiska agendan och hur uppmärksamheten organiseras som sätter ramen för vilka lärdomar som kan dras och hur dessa underhålls för att bestå in i dessa typer av organisationers framtida arbete.

Much recent UK gang research has failed to adequately answer: do gangs exist and if so, are they organised? internal gang dynamics, criminal behaviours and motivations for joining remain largely unexplored; as does the upsurge in violent crime in gang-affected areas of south London. This research set out to answer these questions by investigating gangs in Lambeth, their activities and the daily experiences of those affiliated to them. The study begins by profiling the case study area, currently prevalent street gangs and links to violent crime. The investigation then examines in detail inter-gang and intragang dynamics and community relationships. A further objective is to establish whether, and if so to what extent, gangs were expanding and becoming more deeply embedded in the neighbourhood. This work situates contemporary UK gang research within the literary arc of classic and contemporary US gang research, from Chicago School to Hagedorn. Current UK studies are categorised into three distinct arguments, then critiqued from a Left Realist perspective. Addressing the question, how do we explain an increase in gang related violence?, the work establishes the gang as a social arena (field) of competition where actors struggle for distinction. But what are the characteristics and boundaries of this social -Field? What motivates young people to enter it, and how do you succeed within it? How significant are personal relationships and networks? What is the role of social capital and how do you become a competent actor in this field? These issues are explored using the theoretical perspectives of social field analysis and habitus from Bourdieu alongside various elements of social capital theory. An inductive ethnometholdogy was adopted. The paper presents findings from 30 qualitative interviews of residents, professionals and gang -affiliated young people in Lambeth. The ethical challenges of gang research, such as access and anonymity are addressed. The findings support the proposition that gangs in south London exist, are active and internally organised into three structural tiers. Success within the field is determined by building and maintaining Street Capital -a tradable asset. To acquire this, members strategise by employing tested techniques from the Gang Repertoire, derived from the habitus. Youngers and Olders employ different Repertoires. All actors within the social field are subject to sanctions with new arrivals at increased risk. The field is highly gendered and girls are central to the gang strategising using information and the gang Network. Importantly the findings support the argument that gangs in Lambeth are evolving and becoming more embedded. Increased gang related violence is an outcome of new dynamics in social field, including the imperative to acquire Street Capital and the role of new technology. Increased tensions and violence have cumulative stressful impacts for young people. To address this, they increasingly risk manage their lives through self exclusion or a fatalistic immersion in the social field.

This thesis involves a study of theatre in early 17th century London, focussing on the work of the boy companies. These were theatre companies made up entirely of child actors, who performed on the stages of the private theatres up until about 1609. The attitude that I take is that the performances staged by these companies constituted a separate theatre-form or performance-practice of its own, and accordingly I approach the plays put on by these companies as being part of a specific repertoire, the study of which nevertheless bears wide implications for our understanding of the culture of early modern London. Regarding their performances in terms of the possibilities which they offered for the de-familiarisation of cultural practices, of selfconsciously staging conventions in high relief, I have followed a seam of scepticism surrounding the representation of identity in this culture. My 'thesis' is that within the cultural practice that this theatre constituted there was an acute awareness of the inconsistencies and evasions which existed within the strategies of self-fashioning in the urban setting, an awareness which was ironically distinguished by a highly ambivalent theatricality. The first chapter involves a reading of one of the last and certainly most demanding plays written for this theatre, Epicoene or The Silent Woman by Ben Jonson. Growing out of Jacques Lacan's studies of subjectivity and the subjective gaze, I approach this playas a performance-text which directly and self-consciously addresses issues of performance and dramaturgy. In chapter two I site the space of the theatre itself with reference to other available 'playing spaces', in particular the banqueting-house and the city itself, as I draw in other plays of the repertoire. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the body of the child as being constructed in this culture as an ambiguous site of passivity and self-avoidance, out of which I turn to deal with the constituting and performing of male and female gender.

Contemporary researches on news coverage of Persian Gulf Wars have shown many controversial results in examining how U.S. newspapers covered war events during the wartime. This study examined the coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom by the newspapers of the United States, Britain, and Saudi Arabia.Three prominent newspapers, the New York Times, the Times of London and Arab News, were selected for content analysis of their coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom between March 20 and May 1, 2003. The percentage breakdown of positive, negative and neutral paragraphs coded from composite two weeks of publications by all three newspapers was studied.The goal of the study was to determine if the coverage of the 2003 Iraq war by the New York Times and the Times of London were more favorable than that Arab News. The Arab News was used as a basis for comparison of American and British newspapers for this study.The results of the study showed that the three newspapers covered the Operation of Iraqi Freedom in a neutral manner.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306However, the Times of London treated the Iraq war coverage with more positive news rather than the New York Times and Arab News did, respectively. On the other hand, Arab News appeared to have devoted the lowest favorable news stories after the Times of London. / Department of Journalism

Between 1857 and 1913 approximately 120,000 of the labouring poor from the East End of London were assisted to emigrate to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and sometimes South Africa in order to transplant surplus urban labour to emerging colonial markets and to provide the poor with a means of personal and financial improvement. These charities described the work they did as building “The Bridge of Hope for East London.” By the end of the nineteenth century, Eastenders had long been plagued by poverty, dependency on the Poor Law, and periods of unemployment. Typecast as morally, socially, economically, and racially degenerate in an emerging slum discourse, Eastenders were rarely considered ideal colonial emigrants. For Canada, these emigrants made poor prospects for the westward-expanding nation intent on recruiting agricultural immigrants. At times over the course of these six decades, the Canadian government grew so concerned about their migrations that it took legal measures to bar their entry. By 1910, Canada effectively banned charitably assisted emigration from East London in an attempt to control its borders and dictate the kinds of immigrants it desired even when they were English. Despite these shortcomings and obstacles, assisted emigrants from East London made new lives for themselves and their families in Canada most often in cities. We know something about their experiences from letters some of them wrote to the emigration charities that sponsored them. As a migrant group, they present a unique type of English settler in Canada. Forever failing, despite their many successes and their integration, to meet the ideal imperial British standard, Eastenders were considered undesirable on both sides of the Atlantic – a blight on British prosperity at home and unsuitable representatives abroad. Eastenders occupied an uneasy “third space” struggling to fit in somewhere between home and empire. This dissertation, employing analytical models and methodologies inspired by the ‘New Imperial History,’ the ‘British World’ model, post-colonial theory, and transnationalism seeks to understand why and under what circumstances Canada restricted charitable emigration from East London by 1910. It examines how British charities, politicians, commentators, and, above all, emigrants developed and experienced an imperial discourse and practice of assisted emigration over the course of six decades under ever-changing economic circumstances at home. Overall, it argues that British emigration charities, under the mounting pressures of poverty at home and spurred on by liberal and imperial reformist attitudes, rarely heeded Canadian warnings about the sending out of poor urban emigrants from East London even though they were English. Instead, these emigrationists developed a system of assisted emigration that largely suited their own objectives of poverty management. East End emigrants experienced this system with varying degrees of success, failure, benefit, and harm. The dissertation explores their experiences in two case studies in addition to three chapters on the evolution of assisted emigration discourses and practices in the East End. In placing assisted emigration of the urban poor from East London at the centre of a discussion of late nineteenth and early twentieth century intra-imperial responses to poverty, the dissertation reveals a complex interplay between social welfare, liberalism, and migration in two disparate but connected parts of the ‘British World,’ home and abroad. In doing so it fosters a deeper understanding of the evolution of colonial immigration policy and complicates the limits of race and class for studies of English emigration.