Reconceptualizing Segregation from the Global South

Abstract

In American sociology, segregation is usually conceived in terms of spatial concentration, social isolation, and the consolidation of race, place, and poverty. This conceptualization fails to capture the reality of segregation in many of the largest cities in the Global South. Studying segregation in these places presents an opportunity to “open up” the concept and reimagine it more expansively. In the paper, I compare segregation in Manila, Philippines, to the standard model. The case challenges the model in significant ways. First, we see a form of segregation characterized not by the concentration of poor black neighborhoods but by the interspersion of slums and enclaves, and thus are led to view segregation as relational. Second, we are led to emphasize not the isolation of people living inside segregated spaces but their unequal interactions with people outside them. Third, we are better able to identify the role of segregation in constituting, not merely consolidating, group difference through a process of spatialization. These aspects also apply to American segregation but tend to be overlooked. By looking at segregation in Manila, however, they come into focus. We are led to think about segregation in different ways and see American segregation in a new light.