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Good Neighbours in Bad Neighbourhoods: Narratives of Dissociation and Practices of Neighbouring in a ‘Problem’ Place

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  • Gwen van Eijk

Abstract

This paper challenges the idea that living in a ‘problem’ neighbourhood strains neighbour relations, by examining the relation between narratives of dissociation and practices of neighbouring. Several studies have suggested that confrontations with ethnoracial diversity, disorder and stigma would cause residents to withdraw from interacting with their fellow-residents. Based on a mixed-method study in a ‘problem’ and a ‘problem-free’ neighbourhood, the paper shows that, while narratives of dissociation may suggest withdrawal, such talk does not necessarily reflect in practices of neighbouring. First, negative neighbourhood talk can go together with efforts to connect with fellow-residents. Secondly, perceptions of diversity or disorder do not matter much when neighbour relations evolve around chance encounters and norms of good neighbouring. Inferring practices from narratives risks reproducing images of deprived neighbourhoods as dysfunctional and applying a double standard in explaining distant neighbour relations, while misrecognising the ways in which residents do maintain neighbourly relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Gwen van Eijk, 2012. "Good Neighbours in Bad Neighbourhoods: Narratives of Dissociation and Practices of Neighbouring in a ‘Problem’ Place," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(14), pages 3009-3026, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:49:y:2012:i:14:p:3009-3026
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098012439110
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ash Amin, 2002. "Ethnicity and the Multicultural City: Living with Diversity," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(6), pages 959-980, June.
    2. Douglas Massey, 1996. "The age of extremes: Concentrated affluence and poverty in the twenty-first century," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 33(4), pages 395-412, November.
    3. Paul Watt, 2006. "Respectability, Roughness and ‘Race’: Neighbourhood Place Images and the Making of Working‐Class Social Distinctions in London," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 776-797, December.
    4. Gwen Van Eijk, 2011. "‘They Eat Potatoes, I Eat Rice’: Symbolic Boundary Making and Space in Neighbour Relations," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 16(4), pages 22-33, December.
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    1. Gerald Mollenhorst, 2015. "Neighbour Relations in the Netherlands: New Developments," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 106(1), pages 110-119, February.

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