Social polarization

Social polarization is the segregation within a society that emerges when factors such as income inequality, real-estate fluctuations and economic displacement result in the differentiation of social groups from high-income to low-income. It is a state and/or a tendency denoting the growth of groups at the extremities of the social hierarchy and the parallel shrinking of groups around its middle.^[1]

An early body of research on social polarization was conducted by R.E. Pahl on the Isle of Sheppey, in which he provided a comparison between a pre-capitalist society and capitalist society.^[2]

More recently, a number of research projects have been increasingly addressing the issues of social polarization within the developed economies.^[3] When social polarization occurs in addition to economic restructuring, particularly in cities, economic inequality along social class and racial lines is exacerbated.^[4] Such separation can be best observed in the urban environment, "where [communities] of extreme wealth and social power are interspersed with places of deprivation, exclusion, and decline."^[5]

In addition to how spatial compositions are managed in cities, the technologies used in regards to social relations can also contribute to social polarization^[5] (see § Role of media).

Increased spatial segregation of socioeconomic groups correlates strongly with social polarization as well as social exclusion and societal fragmentation.^[5]

^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 616. ISBN 9780415252256.
^ R. E. Pahl, Divisions of Labour, Oxford: Blackwell, 1984, ISBN 0-631-13273-2
^ Frank Moulaert, Erik Swyngedouw and Arantxa Rodriguez. The Globalized City: Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities. Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-926040-9
^ Knox, Paul; Pinch, Steven (2006). Urban Social Geography: An Introduction. Harlow, England: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 284–288. ISBN 978-0-13-124944-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c Moulaert, Frank; Rodriguez, Arantxa; Swyngedouw, Erik, eds. (2003). The Globalized City: Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 12–14. ISBN 9780191555527.

[1] Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 616. ISBN 9780415252256.

[2] R. E. Pahl, Divisions of Labour, Oxford: Blackwell, 1984, ISBN 0-631-13273-2

[3] Frank Moulaert, Erik Swyngedouw and Arantxa Rodriguez. The Globalized City: Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities. Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-926040-9

[:0-4] Knox, Paul; Pinch, Steven (2006). Urban Social Geography: An Introduction. Harlow, England: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 284–288. ISBN 978-0-13-124944-8.

[:1-5] Moulaert, Frank; Rodriguez, Arantxa; Swyngedouw, Erik, eds. (2003). The Globalized City: Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 12–14. ISBN 9780191555527.

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