Retheorizing state-led gentrification and minority displacement in the Global South-East

Abstract

Studies on gentrification emphasize the roles of the state and local authorities in promoting a process leading to displacement of lower-income populations, mostly ethnic and racial minorities. Such studies, mostly from the global North, present displacement as an unintentional outcome of class, racial, and ethnic intersection. Thus, the ethno-national and racial mechanisms underlying state-led gentrification are left unarticulated. The current research, studying from the southeastern perspective, challenges this narrative. I argue that in a state of ethnonational conflict, gentrification in contested cities may serve as an institutional tool for achieving territorial control and strengthening demographic dominancy of the majority. Based on in-depth interviews and documentary analysis, this study analyzes the institutional mechanisms that shape gentrification in contested cities, leading to displacement of minorities on an ethnonational and class basis. In doing so, this research outlines the policy drivers, their implications, and the resistance of the minority residents.