The Construction of Equality

"The Construction of Equality is a timely and provocative book that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the social and spatial politics of immigration and suburban development in Europe from the postwar period to the present, admirably complicating and enriching our understanding of both Europe and the Middle East."-Sheila Crane, University of Virginia "The first Syriacs-members of a Christian minority from Turkey and the Middle East-arrived in Sweden as refugees a half-century ago. Jennifer Mack has been notably versatile in combining participant observation with a wide range of other materials to offer this rich portrayal of the community in its changing habitat. At a time of dramatic crisis reporting about new refugee streams, it is good to learn about how one group has made its way over time."-Ulf Hannerz, author of Writing Future Worlds "Its approach to the Swedish welfare state, social democratic urban planning, and basic ideas on migration policies is thought-provoking and raises many important questions."-EuropeNow Journal "This is an important, rich work that challenges currently dominant thoughts on Swedish suburban development." -Antipode "The book not only shows the multiple facets of power relationships encountered by members of ethnic communities, but also provides significant arguments for the analysis of vernacular uses of spaces in their tasks. The Construction of Equality can be an important tool for understanding the cultural issues and political stakes that many professionals are confronted with when they try to involve refugees, immigrants, and ethnic communities in city development." -Buildings & Landscapes

Jennifer Mack is researcher at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University and at the School of Architecture at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Contents Preface Introduction: Urban Design from Below 1. Standards and Separatism: The Swedish Million Program, Syriac Enclaves, and Equality 2. Visible Cities, Invisible Citizens: Service and Citizenship in the Centrum 3. Making Mesopotalje: Sacred and Profane "Diaspora Space" in the City 4. "Soedertalje Is a Theater": The Performance of Propriety and Ritual Infrastructure 5. Greetings from Hollywood! Enclaves, Participation, and Dialogue from the Ghetto to the Mansion 6. Safety in Numbers: Tolerance and Norms in Syriac Design Conclusion: The New Periphery Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index