Call it by its proper name! Territory-ism and territorial stigmatisation as a dynamic model: The case of Old Naledi

Geiselhart K (2017)


Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Book chapter / Article in edited volumes

Publication year: 2017

Publisher: Routledge

Edited Volumes: Negative Neighbourhodd Reputation and Place Attachment

Series: Global Urban Studies

City/Town: London, New York

Pages Range: 216-234

Abstract

Emerging debates point to possible shortcomings in relation to Loïc Wacquant's elaboration of the concept of territorial stigmatisation. One of the most frequently raised issues relates to the assumption that residents of neighbourhoods or cities with negative reputations necessarily internalise the stigmatising discourses. Indeed, in a number of his writings, Wacquant formulates the thesis according to which certain neighbourhoods become vilified in increasingly polarising cities. This, he argues, contributes to the marginalisation of the residents of these areas. The process operates in much the same way that stigmatisation does in Erving Goffman’s now famous account, whereby it ‘spoils the identity’ of those who are forced to bear it. However, in his work Wacquant adopts Goffman's theory of stigmatisation without reference to the critiques that it has generated. This chapter highlights the ways in which this initial shortcoming has resulted in a theory that is defamatory, in that it ignores many highly relevant processes of identity building, moving beyond theoretical depictions of inescapable marginality and suffering. I argue that an integrative perspective on territorial stigmatisation, and respective discrimination (territory-ism), is more adequate in order to avoid the vilification of certain groups or the population of a number of neighbourhoods. On top of this, the chapter distinguishes category-based processes from individuating processes of stigmatisation and discrimination, which is particularly helpful in order to analyse the local dynamics of segregation or integration.

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How to cite

APA:

Geiselhart, K. (2017). Call it by its proper name! Territory-ism and territorial stigmatisation as a dynamic model: The case of Old Naledi. In Paul Kirkness und Andreas Tijé-Dra (Eds.), Negative Neighbourhodd Reputation and Place Attachment. (pp. 216-234). London, New York: Routledge.

MLA:

Geiselhart, Klaus. "Call it by its proper name! Territory-ism and territorial stigmatisation as a dynamic model: The case of Old Naledi." Negative Neighbourhodd Reputation and Place Attachment. Ed. Paul Kirkness und Andreas Tijé-Dra, London, New York: Routledge, 2017. 216-234.

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