Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Effect of State Violence on Mobility and Urban Space

这项研究项目调查了两代低收入个人的日常流动做法如何受到国家暴力的影响。该项目将深入了解国家暴力的经历如何影响日常生活的做法(例如，行动、休闲活动和差事)，随后对政治过渡和民主建设的影响，其情感和身体影响，以及这些经历如何被代际差异和性别所折射。这个项目以女权主义地缘政治学、情感地理学和社会学的理论分析为基础，这些分析表明，尽管存在暴力，但日常生活充满了想象力、伦理要求，以及日常生活中平凡的战略和战术，以过一种超越基本生存需求的生活。此外，通过比较两代人对国家、暴力和城市生活的经历，这项研究将验证认知和情感过程是否因年龄而不同，并将揭示这两代人如何理解彼此的希望、愿望和日常谈判。三个主要的研究问题是：RQ 1：国家暴力如何影响日常的城市流动实践？问2：城市环境的哪些要素是紧急状态法时期的象征，它们是如何表现和解释的？和RQ 3：人们如何描述和解释剧变后的事件？对于其中的每一个问题，研究将比较两个年龄段的人，以深入了解青年和记忆在对紧急状态法时代和最近的革命的解释和表述中所起的作用。为了询问这些现象，该项目位于埃及开罗，那里从1981年到2012年一直处于紧急状态法之下，那里仍然有许多关于国家当局实施暴力的书面报告。该项目将在开罗选定的城市地点开展工作，这些地点代表了低收入凯恩人日常生活的不同节点：购物、休闲、教育和政治参与。研究方法将包括参与者观察、焦点小组和对两个年龄段的低收入开罗居民的采访：一组参与者年龄在18岁至26岁之间，另一组参与者年龄在49岁至57岁之间。该项目将具体分析紧急状态法对中东日常生活的影响，帮助政策分析员和社会科学家研究埃及不断变化的政治格局，并对该地区发生的变化产生概括的结果。需要对紧急状态法的使用进行研究，因为它的使用是一个全球现象。此外，美国是埃及的主要捐助国之一，提供经济和社会援助。这类项目可以突出援助对发展公正和民主社会的重要性和/或有效性。成果将通过讲习班与在埃及境内运作的人权组织分享，并在学术期刊、国家和国际会议以及在线杂志和网站等非学术媒体上传播。收集的数据还将用于与学术课堂内外的教学有关的目的。最后，作为这些活动的结果，博士论文研究改进奖将使正在崛起的学者能够发展独立的研究事业。

This research project investigates how the daily mobility practices of two generations of low-income individuals are affected by state violence. The project will provide insight into how the experience of state violence influences practices of daily life (for example, mobility, leisure activities, and errands), the subsequent ramifications for political transitions and democracy building, its emotional and bodily implications and the way in which these experiences are refracted by generational differences and gender. This project is underpinned by theoretical analyses from feminist geopolitics, emotional geography, and sociological analyses which have shown that daily life, despite violence, is filled with imagination, ethical imperatives, and mundane everyday enactments of strategies and tactics to live a life beyond the basic needs of survival. Additionally, through comparing the way that two generations frame their experiences of the state, violence, and urban life, this research will verify if perceptions and emotional processes differ by age and will unpack how these two generational groups understand each other's hopes, aspirations, and daily negotiations. The three primary research questions are: RQ 1: How does state violence impact daily urban mobility practices? RQ 2: What elements of the urban environment are symbolic of periods of emergency laws and how are they represented and interpreted? and RQ 3: How do people represent and interpret post-upheaval events? For each of these questions, the research will compare the two age cohorts in order to gain insight into the role of youth and memory in interpretations and representations of the emergency law era and the recent revolution.To interrogate these phenomena, this project is located in Cairo, Egypt, which had been under Emergency law from 1981-2012 and in which there are still many documented reports of violence committed by state authorities. The project will work within select urban sites in Cairo that represent different nodes of daily life for low-income Cairenes: shopping, leisure, education, and political participation. Research methods will include participant observation, focus groups and interviews with low-income Cairo residents in two age cohorts: one group of participants between the ages of 18 and 26, and a second cohort between the ages of 49 and 57. This project will provide a site-specific analysis of the effects of emergency law on everyday life in the Middle East, aiding policy analysts and social scientist in their research of the changing political landscape of Egypt and producing generalizable results on changes occurring in the region. Research on the use of emergency law is needed, as its use is a global phenomenon. Further, the United States is one of Egypt's major donors, providing economic and social aid. Projects such as this one can highlight the importance and/or effectiveness of aid toward the development of a just and democratic society. Results will be shared with human rights organizations operating within Egypt through workshops and disseminated within academic journals, national and international conferences, and through non-academic media such as online magazines and websites. Data collected will also be used for purposes related to teaching in and outside of the academic classroom. Finally, as a result of these activities, the doctoral dissertation research improvement award will enable the development of an independent research career for a rising scholar.