{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132599"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132599","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Imperial reorderings of land and belonging in Bilad al-Sham: on the disruption of an indigenous ontology of dwelling","abstract":"This thesis examines how the intertwined processes of colonialism and capitalism in twentieth-century Bilad al-Sham reconfigured Indigenous understandings of land, and how contemporary imperial and neoliberal orders continue to reshape people’s relationships to place. Using my hometown, al-Fuheis, as a case study, I trace how an ontology once marked by fluid, relational, land-based lifeways was transformed through Ottoman reforms, European interventions, and later state and capitalist projects. I argue that these disruptions reoriented people’s perceptions of space, narrowed forms of belonging, and gradually produced spatial anxieties around territory and identity. Today, ongoing imperial influence in the region continues to exacerbate tensions around religious and communal difference, deepening the inscription of such differences onto space and intensifying spatial anxiety. Through multiple feminist and decolonial methodologies—such as poetry and Cuerpo Territorio—alongside historical and conceptual analysis, this thesis contends with these transformations and meditates on the lost ontology of dwelling with the land.","abstract_html":"This thesis examines how the intertwined processes of colonialism and capitalism in twentieth-century Bilad al-Sham reconfigured Indigenous understandings of land, and how contemporary imperial and neoliberal orders continue to reshape people’s relationships to place. Using my hometown, al-Fuheis, as a case study, I trace how an ontology once marked by fluid, relational, land-based lifeways was transformed through Ottoman reforms, European interventions, and later state and capitalist projects. I argue that these disruptions reoriented people’s perceptions of space, narrowed forms of belonging, and gradually produced spatial anxieties around territory and identity. Today, ongoing imperial influence in the region continues to exacerbate tensions around religious and communal difference, deepening the inscription of such differences onto space and intensifying spatial anxiety. Through multiple feminist and decolonial methodologies—such as poetry and Cuerpo Territorio—alongside historical and conceptual analysis, this thesis contends with these transformations and meditates on the lost ontology of dwelling with the land.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Aranki, Asalah Jeries Saleem"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Architectural Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Isern, David","Fairchild Ruggles, D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12","date_published":"2025-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z","subjects":["Arab Christians","Bilad al-Sham","Capitalism","Colonialism","Feminist methodologies","Imperialism","Indigenous epistemologies","Indigenous ontology","Land","Land tenure","Orientalism","Oral histories","Ottoman Tanzimat reforms","Religious minorities","Seasonal mobility","Subsistence practices","Territoriality","Dwelling."],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Asalah Jeries Saleem Aranki"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132599","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Isern, David","Fairchild Ruggles, D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Aranki, Asalah Jeries Saleem"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12","2025-12-12"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Architectural Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Arab Christians","Bilad al-Sham","Capitalism","Colonialism","Feminist methodologies","Imperialism","Indigenous epistemologies","Indigenous ontology","Land","Land tenure","Orientalism","Oral histories","Ottoman Tanzimat reforms","Religious minorities","Seasonal mobility","Subsistence practices","Territoriality","Dwelling."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Asalah Jeries Saleem Aranki"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132599"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This thesis examines how the intertwined processes of colonialism and capitalism in twentieth-century Bilad al-Sham reconfigured Indigenous understandings of land, and how contemporary imperial and neoliberal orders continue to reshape people’s relationships to place. Using my hometown, al-Fuheis, as a case study, I trace how an ontology once marked by fluid, relational, land-based lifeways was transformed through Ottoman reforms, European interventions, and later state and capitalist projects. I argue that these disruptions reoriented people’s perceptions of space, narrowed forms of belonging, and gradually produced spatial anxieties around territory and identity. Today, ongoing imperial influence in the region continues to exacerbate tensions around religious and communal difference, deepening the inscription of such differences onto space and intensifying spatial anxiety. Through multiple feminist and decolonial methodologies—such as poetry and Cuerpo Territorio—alongside historical and conceptual analysis, this thesis contends with these transformations and meditates on the lost ontology of dwelling with the land.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Asalah Aranki, accepted the attached license on 2025-12-10 at 11:12.","The student, Asalah Aranki, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-12-10 at 11:26.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-12-12 at 10:08.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #23121 on 2026-02-19 at 18:30:11"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Imperial reorderings of land and belonging in Bilad al-Sham: on the disruption of an indigenous ontology of dwelling"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Isern, David","Fairchild Ruggles, D."],"dc:creator":["Aranki, Asalah Jeries Saleem"],"dc:date":["2025-12","2025-12-12"],"dc:description":["This thesis examines how the intertwined processes of colonialism and capitalism in twentieth-century Bilad al-Sham reconfigured Indigenous understandings of land, and how contemporary imperial and neoliberal orders continue to reshape people’s relationships to place. Using my hometown, al-Fuheis, as a case study, I trace how an ontology once marked by fluid, relational, land-based lifeways was transformed through Ottoman reforms, European interventions, and later state and capitalist projects. I argue that these disruptions reoriented people’s perceptions of space, narrowed forms of belonging, and gradually produced spatial anxieties around territory and identity. Today, ongoing imperial influence in the region continues to exacerbate tensions around religious and communal difference, deepening the inscription of such differences onto space and intensifying spatial anxiety. Through multiple feminist and decolonial methodologies—such as poetry and Cuerpo Territorio—alongside historical and conceptual analysis, this thesis contends with these transformations and meditates on the lost ontology of dwelling with the land.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Asalah Aranki, accepted the attached license on 2025-12-10 at 11:12.","The student, Asalah Aranki, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-12-10 at 11:26.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-12-12 at 10:08.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #23121 on 2026-02-19 at 18:30:11"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132599"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Asalah Jeries Saleem Aranki"],"dc:subject":["Arab Christians","Bilad al-Sham","Capitalism","Colonialism","Feminist methodologies","Imperialism","Indigenous epistemologies","Indigenous ontology","Land","Land tenure","Orientalism","Oral histories","Ottoman Tanzimat reforms","Religious minorities","Seasonal mobility","Subsistence practices","Territoriality","Dwelling."],"dc:title":["Imperial reorderings of land and belonging in Bilad al-Sham: on the disruption of an indigenous ontology of dwelling"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Architectural Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z"}