Indelible stain: territorial stigmatization and the limits of resistance

Abstract

This article examines the impact of territorial stigma in Limerick, a peripheral Irish city, and whether such stigma can be successfully resisted. It begins by exploring the development of the concept of territorial stigma and its five key characteristics. We reflect on how stigmatization has impacted communities in this city. We then utilize Katz’s (2004) three dimensions of resistance—resistance (denoting an ‘oppositional consciousness’), resilience (denoting coping with life under territorial stigma) and reworking (denoting the recasting of the objects of stigmatization through alternative interpretations) to make sense of how stigmatized identities are being challenged/erased/masked in the context of a top-down ‘rebranding’ of Limerick City. Ultimately the article argues that the capacity of grassroots resistance alone to alter discourses, which although locally focused are intermeshed with much larger ideological conflicts, is questionable.

The damages of stigma, the benefits of prestige: Examining the consequences of perceived residential reputations on neighbourhood attachment

“…There may be various ambivalences and contradictions created by territorial stigma (Jensen and Christensen, 2012), depending to some extent on the socio-economic and cultural resources available to residents (Wacquant et al, 2014), but also on neighbourhood history and experiences of organisation (e.g. Power et al, 2021). This means that residents might be aware that they live in a poorly perceived neighbourhood and partially internalise this taint, but still feel content with their surroundings and consider it a good place to live (Jensen and Christensen, 2012).…”

Concealed Stigmatization: Resident Experiences and Practices in Area-Based Development in Gårdsten

“…Carolina Mudan Marelli (2021) shows how local actors use negative images of a marginalized area in Naples to obtain funding for area-based projects, while also rejecting these stigmatizing images in the actual work they do in the areas. Counteracting the stigmatizing views of marginalized areas is a recurrent goal in ABIs, although the effectiveness of 'rebranding' areas has been questioned (Power et al, 2020).…”

“…The above suggestions that focus on breaking-up the myopic area-based approach could help this process. Moreover, previous research shows that rebranding strategies that focus on improving a stigmatized area's reputation do not have the desired effect (Power et al, 2020), which suggests that a more rigorous policy is needed that dares to address the urban relations and power structures that produce territorial stigmatization. Martin Grander (2020) has also argued that public housing in itself has become a stigmatized form of tenure since it is the main form of affordable housing in Sweden.…”

“…Martin J. Power et al (2020) argue that it is doubtful whether resident resistance can change the stigmatizing images of an area, since policy makers and media continue to produce stigmatizing representations.…”