ABSTRACT
The post-war urban explosion in Latin America which has manifested itself in the proliferation of vast numbers of shanty-towns in the major cities has raised dramatic questions at the level of theory and policy (cf. Economic Commission for Latin America 1963, 1970). In the main these questions have been approached through the concept of integration, both at the aggregate level (what structural changes are brought about by the development of a new or expanded stratum), and at the individual level (what personal adjustments are required for people to integrate themselves with urban life). An example of this approach is the work of Germani (1965). This has led to a type of theoretical analysis that relies on a hypothetical integration/non-integration axis (or varieties of it, viz. integration/disintegration, urban/rural etc.), in which the squatters are placed near the non-integration pole. Empirically it also has been the case, because of congestion in the jobs and housing markets, that the majority of squatters actually were experiencing various forms of distance from urban structures. This might take the form of unemployment, physical distance from the city centres, or segregation in urban social relationships (Hauser 1961; Mangin 1970). The perception of the visible aspects of shanty-settlement led to the formation of popular stereotypes that also assumed a situation of separateness within the city.
