THE DISCOURSES ON SLUMS AND THE LIMITS TO THE RIGHT TO THE CITY

Abstract

Several representations and stereotypes have been built around the theme of slums. Some of them are discussed here in order to identify the limits and obstacles imposed on the urban dweller’s right to the city. The analysis focuses mainly on the criminalizing discourse, which is often used to justify a social order imposed on slums by the dominant classes and to provide a rationale for a series of actions performed, directly or indirectly, by the state. The latter is increasingly responsible for the production of an urban space destitute of the sense of urbanity, such as Lefebvre (1969) has discussed it.