Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South : Poverty, Segregation and Social Networks in Sao Paulo

A rigorous examination of poverty in São Paulo, a contemporary megacity, Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South explores the different types of network that exist amongst the metropolitan poor, the conditions that shape and influence them, their consequences for the production of poverty and the mechanisms through which networks influence daily living conditions.

Contending that everyday sociability and social networks are central elements to an understanding of urban poverty, Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South draws on detailed research conducted in São Paulo in an examination of the social networks of individuals who identify as poor. The book uses a multi-methods approach not only to test the importance of networks, but also to disentangle the effects of networks and segregation and to specify the relational and spatial mechanisms associated with the production of poverty. It thus explores the different types of network that exist amongst the metropolitan poor, the conditions that shape and influence them, their consequences for the production of poverty and the mechanisms through which networks influence daily living conditions. A rigorous examination of poverty in a contemporary megacity, Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South will appeal to sociologists, political scientists and geographers with interests in urban studies, poverty and segregation and social networks.