ABSTRACT
Emerging debates point to possible shortcomings in relation to Loic Wacquant's elaboration of the concept of territorial stigmatisation. This chapter highlights the ways in which this initial shortcoming has resulted in a theory that is defamatory, in that it ignores many highly relevant processes of identity building, moving beyond theoretical depictions of inescapable marginality and suffering. It argues that an integrative perspective on territorial stigmatisation, and respective discrimination (territory-ism), is more adequate in order to avoid the vilification of certain groups or the population of a number of neighbourhoods. The chapter distinguishes category-based processes from individuating processes of stigmatisation and discrimination, which is particularly helpful in order to analyse the local dynamics of segregation or integration. It presents a case of Old Naledi, which is a deprived and often vilified township in Botswana's capital city, Gaborone, to show that there are multiple ways of dealing with place-attached stigma.
