Good Neighbours in Bad Neighbourhoods: Narratives of Dissociation and Practices of Neighbouring in a ‘Problem’ Place

This paper challenges the idea that living in a ‘problem’ neighbourhood strains neighbour relations, by examining the relation between narratives of dissociation and practices of neighbouring. Several studies have suggested that confrontations with ethnoracial diversity, disorder and stigma would cause residents to withdraw from interacting with their fellow-residents. Based on a mixed-method study in a ‘problem’ and a ‘problem-free’ neighbourhood, the paper shows that, while narratives of dissociation may suggest withdrawal, such talk does not necessarily reflect in practices of neighbouring. First, negative neighbourhood talk can go together with efforts to connect with fellow-residents. Secondly, perceptions of diversity or disorder do not matter much when neighbour relations evolve around chance encounters and norms of good neighbouring. Inferring practices from narratives risks reproducing images of deprived neighbourhoods as dysfunctional and applying a double standard in explaining distant neighbour relations, while misrecognising the ways in which residents do maintain neighbourly relations.