Looking for the future in the rubble of Palmyra: Destruction, reconstruction and identity

Elly Harrowell

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.12.002

Looking for the future in the rubble of Palmyra: Destruction, reconstruction and identity

Elly Harrowell

University of Birmingham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

568 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The destruction of the ancient ruins of Palmyra by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in September 2015 shocked the world, with some going so far as to decry it as a war crime. This paper explores why the razing of Palmyra resonated so strongly with the international community, demonstrating how the relationship between urban space and collective memory made this event so powerful. Looking to the future, it suggests that the toughest test for Palmyra is yet to come. The challenge of post-conflict reconstruction in sites such as this is inextricably bound up with questions of identity, memory and power, all of which will need to be worked out when the war in Syria eventually comes to an end.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	81-83
Number of pages	3
Journal	Geoforum
Volume	69
Early online date	5 Jan 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.12.002
Publication status	Published - Feb 2016
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Statement: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Geoforum. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Geoforum, [69, (2016)] DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.12.002

© 2016, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Keywords

Reconstruction
Urban planning
Memory
Syria
Palmyra

Themes

Peace and Conflict

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.12.002

Post-PrintAccepted author manuscript, 476 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Elly Harrowell
- Research Centre for Peace and Security - Assistant Professor Research
Person: Teaching and Research

Cite this

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abstract = "The destruction of the ancient ruins of Palmyra by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in September 2015 shocked the world, with some going so far as to decry it as a war crime. This paper explores why the razing of Palmyra resonated so strongly with the international community, demonstrating how the relationship between urban space and collective memory made this event so powerful. Looking to the future, it suggests that the toughest test for Palmyra is yet to come. The challenge of post-conflict reconstruction in sites such as this is inextricably bound up with questions of identity, memory and power, all of which will need to be worked out when the war in Syria eventually comes to an end.",

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AB - The destruction of the ancient ruins of Palmyra by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in September 2015 shocked the world, with some going so far as to decry it as a war crime. This paper explores why the razing of Palmyra resonated so strongly with the international community, demonstrating how the relationship between urban space and collective memory made this event so powerful. Looking to the future, it suggests that the toughest test for Palmyra is yet to come. The challenge of post-conflict reconstruction in sites such as this is inextricably bound up with questions of identity, memory and power, all of which will need to be worked out when the war in Syria eventually comes to an end.

KW - Reconstruction

KW - Urban planning

KW - Memory

KW - Syria

KW - Palmyra

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DO - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.12.002

M3 - Review article

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VL - 69

SP - 81

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JO - Geoforum

JF - Geoforum

ER -

Looking for the future in the rubble of Palmyra: Destruction, reconstruction and identity

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Themes

UN SDGs

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Elly Harrowell

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