The End of Cohesion? Social Fragmentation and Neighbourhood Crime in Argentine Shantytowns

DANIEL PEDRO MÍGUEZ

Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Canadian Association of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Lugar: Toronto; Año: 2016 vol. 41 p. 61 - 75

0826-3663

Rising crime rates have been a growingconcern in Argentina since the 1990s. A significant body of research hasassociated this crime rise with the fragmentation of social bonds and forms ofinternal cohesion in urban areas affected by a high concentration ofunemployment and poverty by income resulting from neoliberal structuralreforms. Based on data from a survey conducted between 2004 and 2006, thispaper?s aim is to provide some new insights to this thesis by measuring thepresence and extension of networks based on mutual trust and reciprocity andestimating the incidence of conflict and crime in Argentine shantytowns. Theseestimations suggest that the social fragmentation thesis requires certainqualifications, and enable some additional hypotheses about how neoliberalpolicies affected the internal forms of coexistence among shantytown dwellers.