IN-PERSON London. Section A

Abstract

This paper explores emerging sources of social identification and differentiation, and the extent to which people interact with difference, in convivial urban areas. Specifically, it examines the following three questions: 1. In what ways are people with similar movement spheres in the city similar to and different from each other? (Interactions with similarities and differences) 2. What are the sources of social identification for people? How do they construct their understandings of similarities and differences? (Constructions of similarities and differences) 3. How do urban residents’ interactions with and constructions of difference influence contestations over spatial and participatory rights to the city? The project undertakes its exploration of emergent sources of social identification by analysing people’s interactions with and perceptions of places, as well along with their identity narratives. It uses unstructured qualitative go-along interviews and participant observation as methods of data collection. The data has been collected in the south London neighbourhood of Peckham, a seemingly quintessential convivial inner-city neighbourhood. By studying the above questions, the project seeks to contribute to discussions on cosmopolitanism and living together with difference by questioning the ways in which differences are conceived in contemporary metropolises, where racial and ethnic categories are purportedly becoming less relevant as bases of spatial regimentation and social identification.