The long shadow of territorial stigma: Upward social mobility and the symbolic baggage of the old neighbourhood

Abstract

In recent years, a burgeoning number of studies have shed light on the lived experience of territorial stigma. However, the vibrant academic discourse on the stigma of place focuses almost exclusively on residents living in marginalised neighbourhoods: it either overlooks or simplifies the lived experience of ‘moving out’ and ‘up’. Building upon 43 biographical interviews with individuals who experienced upward social mobility and were raised in stigmatised neighbourhoods in Germany, this article argues that the experience of exiting from the symbolic bottom of the urban structure is a more complex and conflictual one. In particular, this work sheds light on how former residents learn to relate to the symbolic baggage of having once lived in a notorious neighbourhood. By analysing the three prevailing coping strategies they engage in, the article shifts attention to the prolonged and lasting impact of territorial stigmatisation.

The Narrative Cores of Neighbourhood Reputation as Revealed by Temporal Discourses

“…A blemish on the reputation of a neighbourhood influences not only the residents but also other people, such as politicians, commercial operators, officials, journalists, and citizens more generally (August 2014;Wacquant et al 2014). In the research literature, these discussions are often embedded within the territorial stigmatisation theory developed by Loïc Wacquant, which combines Goffman's (1964) classic theory of stigma and Bourdieu's (1990) theory of symbolic power (Born 2023). Territorial stigmatisation refers to spaces and places that have become notorious as 'isolated and bounded territories increasingly perceived by both outsiders and insiders as social purgatories' (Born 2023, p. 538; see also Holmes 2022).…”

The price of the ticket revised: Family members’ experiences of upward social mobility

“…As Curl et al (2018, p. 895) conclude in their study of the cross-class interactions of upwardly mobile individuals: 'Research including the direct perspectives of family members and friends whose loved ones have experienced upward mobility is also needed.' 4 This article builds upon fieldwork with 44 upwardly mobile individuals from various stigmatised neighbourhoods in Germany (Born, 2023), several family members and long-term residents in a marginalised urban area. 5 This research was conducted between 2020 and 2022 in the context of a larger research project on the intersections of urban marginality and social mobility in Germany.…”

“…In doing so, they offer an empirically sensitive and politically committed analysis of social-space travel and its gendered and racialised dimensions (Cole & Omari, 2003; Curl et al, 2018; Friedman, 2022; Ingram, 2011; Lawler, 1999; Mallman, 2017a; Morton, 2019; Walkerdine, 2003). Moreover, a growing body of research beyond the context of the UK and USA has shed light on how these experiences and meaning-making processes play out in different international settings (Álvarez-Rivadulla et al, 2023; Born, 2023; Burns et al, 2023; Fercovic, 2022; Jin & Ball, 2020; Naudet, 2018; Schneider et al, 2022; Shahrokni, 2018; Sohl, 2018).…”

“…This article builds upon fieldwork with 44 upwardly mobile individuals from various stigmatised neighbourhoods in Germany (Born, 2023), several family members and long-term residents in a marginalised urban area. 5 This research was conducted between 2020 and 2022 in the context of a larger research project on the intersections of urban marginality and social mobility in Germany.…”

Social inequality A neglected topic in Studies of Valuation and Evaluation?

“…Major and O'Brien 2005). In contrast, current sociological research attends to the broader cultural, structural, and historical foundations of male sex workers' sexual risk disclosure (Padilla et al 2008) and how residents who have experienced upward mobility relate to the territorial stigma of their former neighborhoods (Born 2022). The second body of literature compares responses to stigmatization across stigmatized groups and societies.…”