It is crucial to gain better insights into how psychosocial processes can limit the power of the political/ legislative sphere for promoting social change through new laws. One form of accomplishing this is by illuminating the arguments and the content and value of social representations at play in cases in which the public sphere succeeds in contesting new laws. In this article, we explore a case of successful resistance to new ecological laws in a Portuguese Natura site. The laws, restricting recreational fishing, were made less stringent after meeting with local opposition. Content analysis of 122 articles published from 2006 to 2014 in regional and national newspapers reveals that protestors (fishermen, local authorities) received higher visibility and support and had more direct voice than the political sphere in both presses. Dialogical analysis of direct quotations of protestors shows how they seek legitimacy by establishing common ground with valued representations, vividly invoking people-place bonds and tradition, and also how they attempt to undermine the law's legitimacy by linking local and national concerns, avoiding (potentially devalued) "Nimby" ("not in my backyard") arguments. The discussion highlights what can be learned from using the press to investigate policy struggles that successfully organized their argumentation to contest new laws.

Social psychological research has increasingly extolled the benefits of intergroup contact as a means of promoting positive relations. However, a growing body of research suggests that formal policies of desegregation are often offset by informal ‘micro-ecological’ practices of (re)-segregation, in everyday life spaces. This paper presents a systematic literature review of recent evidence on this topic (2001-2017), outlining key findings about how, when, where, and why micro-ecological divisions are reproduced. Informal segregation can happen based on ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, or gender and ethnicity, despite people being in a shared place. People generally maintain patterns of ingroup isolation as a result of: a) negative attitudes and stereotypes; b) ingroup identification and threat; or c) feelings of anxiety, fear and insecurity. Educational settings have been the main context studied, followed by leisure and recreational places, public urban places and public transport. The paper also identifies three areas of potential future research, highlighting the need to: (1) capitalise on methodological innovations; (2) explore systematically how, when and why the intersectionality of social categories may shape micro-ecological practices of contact and separation; and (3) understand more fully why micro-ecological patterns of segregation are apparently so persistent, as well as how they might be reduced.

Abstract:The neighbourhood of Mouraria in the center of Lisbon is today home to three main groups of residents: traditional residents, new gentrifiers, and immigrants. This diversity is simultaneously a strength of and a threat to its social cohesion and its current urban rehabilitation process, undertaken by the City Council of Lisbon (CCL). This study has three main goals: 1) to analyze how the 'community identity' maps of the neighbourhood are constructed by residents' discourse; 2) to analyze how the 'official' cultural map of the neighbourhood is constructed in the discourses of the press and the CCL; and 3) to compare the 'official' and the 'community' maps. In drafting the 'community' maps, 22 interviews were conducted with traditional residents (14), new gentrifiers (6), and immigrants (2). The 'official' cultural map was re-constructed through a press analysis (four articles from two reference newspapers: Público, 2014; Expresso, 2013) and an in-depth interview with the coordinator of the CCL office in Mouraria. Findings show that the rehabilitation program is represented in the 'official' discourse in a more positive way than in residents' discourses. The main divergence concerns the targets of the intervention. However, in both discourses there is agreement regarding the social problems of Mouraria. The stories of the past told by traditional residents, although mentioning the loss of the traditional character of Mouraria, show the importance of public spaces for place attachment and place identity. The discourses of new residents highlight the role of places in building connections between past and present, and in helping maintain a sense of continuity. We discuss the importance of community identity mapping in understanding the 'battle of ideas' around urban rehabilitation and the impact that different perspectives can have. The study can be a source of information for decision-makers, helping strengthen the communication bridge between them and the community.Keywords: community identity maps, official cultural map, place relations, multicultural community, rehabilitated neighbourhood Résumé : Le quartier de Mouraria au coeur de Lisbonne est aujourd'hui habité par des habitants provenant de trois catégories sociales, soit : la population traditionnelle du quartier, les populations gentrifiées et les migrants. Cette diversité est à la fois une opportunité et un défi au 24 Culture and Local Governance / Culture et gouvernance locale, vol 5 (1-2) processus de régénération urbaine développé par le Conseil de la ville de Lisbonne (CVL). Cette étude a trois objectifs : 1) comprendre l'identité communautaire et en faire une cartographie à partir des discours des différents résidents; 2) analyser comment la cartographie culturelle opérée par la presse et le CVL; 3) comparer les deux cartographies, soit la cartographie officielle et celle des résidents. Pour les fins de cette recherche, la cartographie des résidents a été produite à partir de 22 entrevues, dont 14 entrevues réalisées auprès de résidents dits...

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The processes of urban regeneration of long‐disinvested inner‐city neighbourhoods today happening in many European cities sometimes dramatically transform residents' traditional uses of their public places. Focusing on a neighbourhood renowned for its traditional public place sociability – Mouraria, in Lisbon – this study explored the psychosocial processes that may shape the maintenance of that sociability in the face of increasing social diversification and small‐scale gentrification brought about by a mixed/bottom‐up regeneration plan. A questionnaire survey (n = 201) with two types of residents (“traditional residents” and “new gentrifiers”) indicated that: (a) both types report using Mouraria's public places for socializing, although traditional residents do so to a greater degree; (b) perceived cultural continuity of the neighbourhood is positively related to public place sociability for both groups; and (c) this relationship is mediated by both place identification and place knowledge; but (d) it is not moderated by type of resident. By implication, we argue that regenerated inner‐city neighbourhoods may remain as places of lively public sociability and companionship if residents are able to forge and/or retain a sense of identification with, and intimate knowledge of, the neighbourhood, and view it as maintaining continuity with the past.