IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v44y2007i12p2305-2319.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

`Let the Streets Take Care of Themselves': Making Sociological and Common Sense of `Skid Row'

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Huey

    (Department of Sociology, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd O, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3M 1M8, lhuey@alcor.concordia.ca)

  • Thomas Kemple

    (Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, 6503 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z1, kemple@interchange.ubc.ca)

Abstract

This essay develops a conceptualisation of skid row as a cultural and historical space for the containment of moral and material dereliction. First, the social scientific literature is reviewed, revealing the historical shift by which skid row became understood as a site for the containment of moral decay. Then, a Weberian `ideal type' is constructed to account for the use of skid row as an analytical concept. This ideal type is contrasted with two other prevalent patterns of urban displacement and effacement: the slum and ghetto. The conception is further tested through a consideration of two ethnographic studies of skid row districts, focusing on the everyday perceptions and experiences of community stakeholders. It is concluded that the range of cultural strategies of naming engaged in, support the retention of this contested term as a way of rendering the analytical aims of social scientists accountable to the commonsense understandings of community stakeholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Huey & Thomas Kemple, 2007. "`Let the Streets Take Care of Themselves': Making Sociological and Common Sense of `Skid Row'," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(12), pages 2305-2319, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:44:y:2007:i:12:p:2305-2319
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980701540911
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/00420980701540911
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00420980701540911?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Loïc J. D. Wacquant, 1997. "Three Pernicious Premises in the Study of the American Ghetto," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 341-353, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lisa Freeman, 2017. "Governed Through Ghost Jurisdictions: Municipal Law, Inner Suburbs and Rooming Houses," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 298-317, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Karien Dekker & Gideon Bolt, 2005. "Social Cohesion in Post-war Estates in the Netherlands: Differences between Socioeconomic and Ethnic Groups," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(13), pages 2447-2470, December.
    2. Peer Smets & Ton Salman, 2008. "Countering Urban Segregation: Theoretical and Policy Innovations from around the Globe," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(7), pages 1307-1332, June.
    3. Jeff R. Crump, 2003. "The end of public housing as we know it: public housing policy, labor regulation and the US city," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 179-187, March.
    4. James Jennings, 2004. "Urban Planning, Community Participation, and the Roxbury Master Plan in Boston," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 594(1), pages 12-33, July.
    5. Sylvie Fol & Gabriel Dupuy & Olivier Coutard, 2007. "Transport Policy and the Car Divide in the UK, the US and France: Beyond the Environmental Debate," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 802-818, December.
    6. Alexandra Parker, 2018. "The spatial stereotype: The representation and reception of urban films in Johannesburg," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(9), pages 2057-2072, July.
    7. Franco, Creso & Ribeiro, Luiz Cesar Queiroz & Alves Kalil, Fátima, 2008. "Urban segregation and school backwardness in Rio de Janeiro," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    8. Thomas Maloutas, 2007. "Segregation, Social Polarization and Immigration in Athens during the 1990s: Theoretical Expectations and Contextual Difference," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 733-758, December.
    9. Martine August, 2014. "Negotiating Social Mix in Toronto's First Public Housing Redevelopment: Power, Space and Social Control in Don Mount Court," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1160-1180, July.
    10. Juliette Galonnier, 2015. "The Enclave, The Citadel and the Ghetto: The Threefold Segregation of Upper-Class Muslims in India," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 92-111, January.
    11. Paul Watt, 2003. "Urban Marginality and Labour Market Restructuring: Local Authority Tenants and Employment in an Inner London Borough," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(9), pages 1769-1789, August.
    12. Nathan Edward Fosse, 2010. "The Repertoire of Infidelity among Low-Income Men: Doubt, Duty, and Destiny," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 629(1), pages 125-143, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:44:y:2007:i:12:p:2305-2319. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.