Fragmenting Cities

Fragmenting Cities offers a conceptionally innovative and empirically detailed analysis of the surprising acceptance and normalization of state-based stigmatization and discrimination based on place. It does this by drawing on the example of the first state-sanctioned definition of ghetto, the controversial ghetto list produced by the Danish government. Troels Schultz Larsen and Kristian Nagel Delica introduce policy schizophrenia as a concept to describe instances where the state simultaneously stigmatizes people from the top while engaging in urban renewal at the bottom, deepening the fragmentation of the city. They develop a meticulously researched neo-Bourdieusian model of the state as nested fields, designed for empirical confrontation and comparative analysis. Through comprehensive socio-historical analysis, this book demonstrates how marked urban and political changes over the past four decades constituted a symbolic revolution, radically upending the fundamentals of not-for-profit housing. Investigating relationships that have been neglected in contemporary governance research, urban studies, and critical political geography, this book is an essential read for academics, researchers and students of human geography, sociology, urban studies, planning, and governance. Additionally, it is an accessible and innovative resource for policymakers in the field.