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The Interplay of Three Established-Outsider Figurations in a Deprived Inner-city Neighbourhood

Institute for History, International and Social Studies at Aalborg University, Fibigerstraede 2, 9220 Aalborg East, Denmark. may{at}ihis.aau.dk.

This article discusses Norbert Elias' theory of established-outsider figurations and applies it to the case of one deprived inner-city neighbourhood in Germany, Dortmund Nordstadt. According to this theory, the social cohesion of the established together with the stigmatisation of outsiders leads to status and power differentials that exclude the outsiders. In Nordstadt, three levels of established-outsider figurations overlap and influence each other. At the societal level, the legal system assigns to immigrants the position of outsiders. At the city level, Nordstadt is stigmatised as a neighbourhood for workers and immigrants. At the neighbourhood level, immigrants can, thanks to their greater internal cohesion, establish themselves to some degree, while the Germans attempt to implement the established-outsider figuration of the societal level. By way of conclusion, this article discusses the relevance of Elias' theory both for social theory and for urban studies.

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