Abstract
The papers in this special issue entitled “Gating Communities” were originally presented at a panel entitled “Symbols of Division and Markers of [Dis]order: Gated Communities as Fortified Spaces in a Neo-colonial World” at the American Anthropological Association Meetings in Chicago in 2003. The communities that are the subject of the five articles in this issue of Home Cultures reflect the many varieties of fortified social space in the Americas, including a US military officers’ retirement community, tourist and retirement communities set apart in idyllic country spaces, and emergent gated communities in large urban centers, such as greater Los Angeles and Mexico City. Throughout the special issue, the authors grapple with the particular ways in which the built environment reflects and reinforces ideologies of segregation and fear, elucidating how such barriers literally and metaphorically manifest ideologies of the powerful, solidify social hierarchies, and control the movement of people within and outside of the gates. Indeed, we title the issue “Gating Communities” to signal the constructed and processual nature of these new residential formations.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 5-10 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Home Cultures |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2008 |