نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 استادیار، گروه معماری، دانشکده فنی و مهندسی، دانشگاه رازی، کرمانشاه، ایران
2 استادیار، گروه مهندسی فضای سبز، دانشگاه تبریز، آذربایجان شرقی، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
Problem Statement:
This study, employing a critical ethnographic approach, explores the lived experiences of urban underclass groups in two informal urban settlements—Dowlatabad and Aghajan in Kermanshah. The starting point of this research is a critique of the “culture of poverty” discourse, understood here as an ideological narrative that frames poverty as the outcome of the beliefs and behavioral patterns of the poor, rather than the result of unequal socio-economic structures. This discourse has been both explicitly and implicitly reproduced in urban policymaking in Iran, particularly since the 1990s.
Objective:
This paper reinterprets residents’ narratives to uncover the connections between individual experience, structures of domination, forms of resistance, and patterns of poverty reproduction, while critically challenging the culture-oriented view of poverty.
Method:
The study draws on deep participant observation, semi-structured interviews (48 in Dowlatabad and 39 in Aghajan), and extensive field notes. Data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA software, based on four key analytical dimensions: marginal mindset, intergenerational reproduction of poverty, social labeling/stigmatization, and cultural resistance/adaptation. This framework made it possible to reveal the interplay between individual experience, structures of domination, forms of resistance, and mechanisms of poverty reproduction.
Findings:
The results indicate that although both neighborhoods have emerged within contexts of structural deprivation and spatial exclusion, their trajectories of livelihood and resistance show significant differences. Dowlatabad, with wider streets, local bazaars, and diverse social networks, has created a space for small-scale economic activity and the redefinition of spatial identity. In contrast, Aghajan—characterized by limited infrastructure, restricted access, and a lack of stable employment opportunities—intensifies the intergenerational reproduction of poverty and diminishes adaptive capacity.
Conclusion:
This study demonstrates that poverty is not an “inescapable cultural condition” but rather a “poverty-producing process” shaped by the intersection of structure, space, and power. Wherever the structure of opportunity changes in favor of the poor, culture changes as well. This is the central lesson of critical ethnography for urban planning: changing space is the most effective policy for changing culture.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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