Paper short abstract:

Santo Domingo’s central barrios are populated by poor rural migrants who are materially and symbolically excluded from city life. This paper explores the process of housing construction and the importance of the local for some of the city'ss poorest residents.

Paper long abstract:

Santo Domingo's central barrios are populated by poor rural migrants who are materially and symbolically excluded from city life. Their socio-economic mobility is limited by a range of factors, including lack of land titles and an urban moral geography that represents the barrios as a threat to the city's social order. Given these constraints, control of land and the construction of housing over time are key methods by which barrio residents endeavour to carve out a legitimate place in the city. This struggle to control and craft the 'local' has gained importance for the poor as their position has been further undermined by the insertion of the Dominican economy into the global order. Building a house allows residents to create their own social worlds that are seen as antithetical to the impersonal middle class, while engaging in consumption to express their right to a stake in progress and modernity. It is a conservative rather than a radical mode entailing social reproduction rather than revolution. Nonetheless, the construction and elaboration of housing arrangements over time stands as testimony to the creativity and determination of the poor when faced with shrinking options in a beleaguered economy. This paper explores the process of housing construction and the importance of the local for some of Santo Domingo's poorest residents.