The consideration of race as a social construct clearly contributes to the establishment of barriers between different population groups, and those of conscious nature seem to prevail. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is directly connected to the economic development of countries. Since it occurs in the conditions of scarcity of resources essential for the survival of citizens, the varying degree of access to them can be determined on the basis of racial background (Phinney 2). In other words, the grounds for the layman to classify their peers, discussed in the case study, are guaranteed by including this characteristic. From this point of view, it can be claimed that the so-called barriers are simply the tools for setting up a clear hierarchy within society with justification to some extent. Hence, the corresponding stereotypes are unavoidable in this model of interactions.
The examination of the issues mentioned above by scholars supports this standpoint from the perspective of urbanism. According to Phinney, the concept of austerity is explicitly linked to racialization, and the domination of the majority, in this case, effectively determines the patterns of resource distribution in cities (2). Therefore, the economic processes and political shifts, reflecting these changes, can be informative for explaining why race as a social construct is frequently used for creating conscious and unconscious barriers. In this situation, the former obstacles are related to the population’s financial inequality, whereas the latter is more of a natural fear, caused by the desire to survive. Both provisions are possible to take into account when referring to this single characteristic, and their combination ensures the lasting nature of the problem in communities. They are affected by the attempts to establish the privileged position of one or another group of citizens on the basis of their race.
Work Cited
Phinney, Sawyer. “Rethinking Geographies of Race and Austerity Urbanism.” Geography Compass, vol. 14, no. 3, 2020, pp. 1-12.