On Borders and Differentiations in Housing Settlements, through the Prism of Social Practices

This article is devoted to the problem of the structuring of groups living in housing settlements in large cities. Referring to the theory of social practices and the findings of empirical research, the authors show the importance of analyzing the everyday practices of housing settlements for a better understanding of the mechanisms of social production and reproduction of differences. In interpreting the research material, they show that at the level of the housing settlement and through analysis of what would seem to be ordinary activities — for instance, taking care of children, walking a dog, caring for green areas, parking, or guarding — people create, negotiate, and contest borders, reproducing and modifying more or less permanent socio-spatial arrangements. These arrangements, although they are described by the term “neighborhood,” significantly depart from the understanding of “neighborhood” in the spirit of twentieth-century sociology — as an arrangement of relations and dependence between people resulting from their nearness of residence