Displacement, emplacement and migrant newcomers: rethinking urban sociabilities within multiscalar power

Abstract

This article contributes to the discussion of the everyday sociabilities that arise between migrant newcomers and local urban residents. We highlight the proximal, workplace and institutionally based social relations that newcomers and locals construct through finding domains of commonality, noting that in such instances differences are not constituting factors for the development of urban sociabilities. The urban sociabilities we describe emerge within the contingencies of a disempowered city in which all residents face limited institutional support and social or economic opportunities. Concepts of multiscalar displacements and emplacements are highlighted as useful for setting aside a communitarian bias in urban and migration studies and analysing urban sociabilities in ways that situate migrants within discussions of urban social movements.