Divided We Stand: Belfast’s ‘Peace’ Walls and the Logic of Security - Reid & Surace (seminar 23)

Join us for a compelling session of the "Entangled Histories: Borders and Cultural Encounters" international seminar series (the 23rd!!!).

This co-authored presentation explores the paradox of "temporary" barriers that become permanent fixtures of the urban and psychological landscape.

Event Details

• 🗓️ Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
• 🕓 Time: 15:00 CET | 14:00 BST (Belfast/London)
• 🌐 Check your local time: Time Zone Converter
• 📍 Location: Online via Zoom (Link sent before the meeting)

About the Seminar

Walls built for protection often become permanent. Rather than ending conflict, they institutionalise it. This paper asks why barriers erected as temporary measures so often outlast the emergencies that justified them, and what this reveals about the modern logic of security. It will examine:

• The Philosophy of Immunity: develops a philosophical framework for understanding walled borders. Drawing on Jacques Derrida and Roberto Esposito, it explores the "logic of immunity", the drive to seal off the inside from the outside. It argues that total immunity is self-defeating: a community that walls itself in risks suffocation, where protection slides toward self-destruction.

• The Infrastructure of Separation: turns the lens toward Belfast’s ‘peace’ walls. More than twenty-five years after the Good Friday Agreement, these barriers remain the longest urban border in Europe. Drawing on Michel Foucault and Étienne Balibar, it argues that these walls convert open hostility into "managed separation", where security operates by maintaining division rather than achieving reconciliation.

Meet the Speakers

Valentina Surace (University of Messina) A Research Fellow in Theoretical Philosophy, Dr Surace’s research explores Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Judith Butler. She is the author of L’inquietudine dell’esistenza (2014) and Soggetti precari (2023), and co-editor of Mind the Gap: Borders, Limits and Frontiers (De Gruyter, 2025).

Aisling Reid (Queen’s University Belfast) A Lecturer in Late Medieval Literature and Research Assistant at QUB, Dr Reid’s research focuses on spatial thresholds, visibility, and border culture. She recently collaborated on the ‘Ireland’s Border Culture’ programme with Trinity College Dublin and is an editor for Logoi.ph.

Mandatory Admission Rules & Security Policy

To maintain a secure and professional academic environment, we enforce a strict identification policy. Please read carefully before registering:

1. Full Legal Name Required: You must register with your full real name. Nicknames, initials, or pseudonyms are not accepted.
2. Zoom Matching: The name used for registration MUST MATCH EXACTLY the display name on your Zoom account when joining the meeting. If the names do not match, you will remain in the Waiting Room and will not be admitted.
3. Affiliation or Profession: If you do not have an academic or institutional affiliation, you MUST provide a your current profession/occupation in the required field. Incomplete, vague, or nonsensical entries will result in the immediate cancellation of your registration.
4. Registration Deadline: For technical reasons, registration will close 15 minutes before the start of the event. Last-minute registrations cannot be processed.

Failure to comply with these identity requirements will result in non-admission to the seminar.