The Enclave, The Citadel and the Ghetto
Abstract
The urban sociology literature has identified three types of segregated spaces:the ghetto, the enclave and the citadel. While the ghetto stems from a high constraint,the enclave accounts for a more intentional form of segregation and the citadel refersto a deliberate attempt to exclude undesirable populations. While these three figuresare often contrasted in the American literature, this article focuses on a specific typeof neighbourhood that combines all of these: the upper-class minority neighbourhood.By introducing the main results of an interview study I conducted in the Indian city ofAligarh, I show that Muslim upper-class residential choices are informed by contradictoryfeelings: while the threat of Hindu–Muslim riots forces them to segregate in homogenousneighbourhoods (the ghetto), their segregation also stems from a genuine desire to livein an Islamic environment (the enclave). Finally, the Muslim upper classes also indulgein a sharp process of socio-spatial differentiation from their poorer coreligionists (thecitadel). These processes of compelled segregation, self-aggregation and social distancinglead to an enduring spatial concentration along religious and class lines. The simultaneityof these three logics indicates that the categories of the ghetto, the enclave and the citadel,framed in reference to the American context, can be applied to the Indian city of Aligarhif understood as dynamic processes rather than static spatial units. Such a reformulationallows theory to travel across the North–South divide in a more productive way.