Rose Gibbs

PhD thesis: Abolition Ecology in Alevi-Kurdish diasporic practices: Growing resistance and cultivating belonging in London’s urban gardens

The research will centre on two aspects of Alevi-Kurdish identity and practice that emerge from a belief in the equality of human and non-human life, tracing the practice of this belief within Alevi-Kurdish communities in London:

• Alevi-Kurdish claims to gender equality, posited as a marker of difference within the Muslim Turkish setting, and as a point of correspondence within Western Europe.
• Alevi-Kurdish spiritual connection with the natural world in the urban context of the UK, against the backdrop of the departure from and destruction of important natural sacred sites in Turkey

Through the study of Alevi-Kurdish urban gardening in London this project will read these practices as abolition ecologies that provide both a link to the past: farms, homes and sacred sites in a lands left behind, and to the present: a means by which to put down roots, connect with nature and feel at home.

Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?

This PhD emerges out of my interest in gender, ecology, culture and spatial practices, which have coalesced through my experience of establishing a community organization on the estate where I live, gardening alongside my Alevi-Kurdish neighbours and encountering their practices and beliefs and learning about their struggles elsewhere.
Since my MA at The Royal College of Art I have sought to elicit thinking about gender and its role in shaping the cultural landscape where the place of women seems fragile. Much of this research has been focused on feminist collectivity and childcare, drawing out the relationship between the work women traditionally do, caring for others, and the work of caring for the earth.
In 2016 I founded a resident led community organization the council estate where I live. With grant support this organization has sought to strengthen community health, reduce social isolation and encourage civic participation by facilitating residents’ autonomy over their immediate environment. My learning through this project has inspired my PhD Project.