Abstract
Abstract‘Social frontiers’ – places of sharp difference in social/ethnic characteristics between neighbouring communities – have largely been overlooked in quantitative research. Advancing this nascent field first requires a way of identifying social frontiers in a robust way. Such frontiers may be ‘open’ – an area may contrast sharply with a neighbourhood in one direction, but blend smoothly into adjacent neighbourhoods in other directions. This poses some formidable methodological challenges, particularly when computing inference for the existence of a social frontier, an important goal if one is to distinguish true frontiers from random variation. We develop a new approach using Bayesian spatial statistical methods that permit asymmetries in spatial effects and allow for spatial autocorrelation in the data. We illustrate our method using data on Sheffield and find clear evidence of ‘open’ frontiers. Permutations tests and Poisson regressions with fixed effects reveal compelling evidence that social frontiers are associated with higher rates of crime.
Highlights
Fissures in social relations have been researched at length in the geography and sociology literatures
Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Dutch Geographical Society / Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig go a step further and consider the impact of social frontiers both theoretically and empirically, challenging ‘the ‘aspatial’ treatment of neighbourhoods as isolated areas in research on ethnic diversity’
Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Dutch Geographical Society / Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig further segregation
Summary
Fissures in social relations have been researched at length in the geography and sociology literatures. In the human geography literature, attention has been given to the geography of difference, the significance of boundaries in shaping power relations, and social exclusion of those who are defined to be the ‘outsiders’ in relation to the normatively dominant group (Sibley 1995). Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie – 2018, DOI:10.1111/tesg.12316, Vol 110, No 3, pp.
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