Urban Segregation as Interspersion

• In Event: 222 - Regular Session. Space and Place

Abstract

Segregation is normally conceptualized as social isolation. This approach fails to capture the reality of segregation for many of the largest cities in the developing world, where segregation is distinguished not by the spatial concentration of a stigmatized group but, rather, by the interspersion of socially distinct and unequal spaces throughout the metropolis. Interspersion represents a distinct form of segregation—common across the Global South—defined by the proximity of slums and residential enclaves and, at the same time, their mutual exclusion. The proximity of slums and enclaves facilitates interaction among their residents, but this interaction is categorically unequal. It occurs across and not despite strong class boundaries and hence has the effect of reinforcing these boundaries. I develop this argument by comparing two sets of urban areas in the Philippines, one characterized by interspersion (Metro Manila) and the other not. Drawing on interview and ethnographic data, I show that interspersion accounts for the qualitative difference in the class identity of Metro Manila’s poor. This identity is distinguished less by a sense of inequality and disadvantage, as it is among the poor in urban areas without interspersion, than by a strong expectation of discrimination and a palpable sense of grievance.

Author

• Marco Z Garrido, University of Chicago