Open AccessRacism in multicultural neighbourhoods in Chile: Housing precarity and coexistence in a migratory context
Author(s) -
Macarena Bonhomme
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bitácora urbano territorial/bitácora urbano territorial
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.249
H-Index - 6
eISSN - 2027-145X
pISSN - 0124-7913
DOI - 10.15446/bitacora.v31n1.88180
Subject(s) - racism , multiculturalism , context (archaeology) , sociology , negotiation , gender studies , ethnography , public housing , precarity , political science , geography , social science , anthropology , pedagogy , archaeology , law
Chile is one of the countries with major destination flows from Latin America. In such a context, new distinctions and racial formations have emerged, establishing different forms of social exclusion and racism that are performed in the everyday interaction and socio-cultural practices that take place in residential neighbourhoods. This research is based on one of the most multicultural boroughs in Santiago, Recoleta, historically located in a territory called ‘La Chimba.’ The aim is to examine the intercultural coexistence in increasingly multicultural neighbourhoods in the context of South-South migration, in order to discuss the emerging social conflict, understanding how housing policies and limited access to decent housing by migrants reproduce everyday racism. Drawing on a larger research project that consisted in a 17-month ethnography, 70 in-depth interviews and two focus groups with migrants and Chileans between 2015 and 2018, this article shows and discusses how public spaces are racialised through social practices and interactions, and how the making of ‘race’ in urban spaces have an impact on the way in which migrants inhabit and navigate urban spaces and negotiate their ‘right to the city’ in the everyday.