Place and Power in Downtown Asunción: The effects of intersecting power structures on La Chacarita and its residents
Author
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2021
Submitted on
2021-05-28
Pages
50
Abstract
The squatter settlement La Chacarita in Asunción, Paraguay is located by the river Paraguay. During the annual flooding, its lower-class residents literally move up to higher ground in the city centre surrounded by the higher institutions of state, security, education, church and history. Exploring how place and space interact in downtown Asunción, I challenge Michel de Certeau’s ideas of fixed place and hierarchy of agency (De Certeau, 1988, p.45; Vermeulen, 2015). Analysing the overarching structures and applying them to the micro-politics of three specific events in downtown Asunción, I argue that the intersection of power structures leads to the hierarchy being flipped with residents from La Chacarita becoming the main disciplinary system, shaping place and subjects - including state actors - thus implying empowering effects of place.
Keywords
Asunción ; Paraguay ; De Certeau ; Place ; Space ; La Chacarita ; Systems of discipline ; Empowerment ; Visibility
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