Full text release has been delayed at the author’s request until June 10, 2013.

Degree

MSARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011.

Abstract

The ongoing Somalia conflict is rooted in a history of foreign influence, complex social networks, economic marginalization, the abuse of sovereignty, and the disintegration of the state. These processes have initiated the formation of new spaces and systems that establish and extend conflict through militarization and violence. Attempts by outside actors, such as humanitarian agencies and military interventions, have been undermined by the perpetuation of militarization and the politicization of space by non-state actors. The transformation of urban spaces by militant groups, notably Harakat al-Shabaab, has established a system of power outside the judicial mechanisms of sovereignty. Whereas the Transitional Federal Government struggles to impose the rule of law upon a fragmented landscape at the decree of the international community, the roots of its sovereign power lie outside of Somalia, rendering its mechanisms of juridical law inept to impose order. Al-Shabaab has otherwise acquired power through the control of urban spaces, the appropriation of Laanta Buur prison, and the proliferation of militant training camps. These sites and structures are analyzed utilizing the works of Foucault and Deleuze to understand how such sites function as mechanisms of power and to determine strategic assets for conflict stabilization.

Subject Headings

Architecture

Keywords

Architecture; Mogadishu; Conflict; New War; Somalia; al Shabaab

Committee / Advisors

Aarati Kanekar, PhD (Committee Chair)
Adrian Parr, PhDMA (Committee Chair)

Pages

79p.

Document number: ucin1305892049
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1305892049