Abstract

In April 2001, Quebec city was host to the third Summit of the Americas, a significant political event bringing together the continent's heads of state in order to constitute a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). Sixty thousands protesters converged in Quebec city to express their opposition to the FTAA. A security perimeter was raised in the upper part of the city in order to facilitate the leaders' protection by separating them from the mass of protesters. This thesis engages with the geopolitical takeover of the city and the space management conducted by the authorities for the sake of staging the power. Based on the spatial exclusion of contesting citizens, the redefinitions of urban practices around protest are analysed. This thesis analyses the dramatic exploitation of violent protest by the authorities in order to divide the movement of opposition. The images which were constructed by the authorities and represented in the media opposed the experience of those on the city streets. This thesis will then examine the presence of a carnivalesque spectacle, and the forms of festive protest within the public space.