Page 95 - IJPS-9-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Refugees’ voices in Brazilian cities

Refugiados e Imigrantes Sem Teto [GRIST], available at: (and flagrant) material inequalities in the current world-
https://gristbrasil.weebly.com/). system. Various groups mobilize for issues related to
Thus, the struggle for the right to the city of refugees ethnicity, gender, sexuality, nationality, and more, seeking
and refugee applicants is a social movement connected a “recognition of difference.” Struggling for recognition
and respect for difference means seeking recognition of
(and contained, even) to the same demand shared by most the individualities and peculiarities (basically cultural) of
immigrants and other social groups in conflict with the each social group, with an emphasis on equal dignity and
hegemony of the current world-system — safeguarding the respect for human rights (Fraser, 1997). This pursuit aims
peculiar identity of each group. to foster the consolidation of their collective identities
However, the “categorization” of the pursuit for within a pluralistic and multicultural society, thereby
recognition and effectiveness of the right to the city for demystifying the fallacious universalism applied to human
individuals in refuge as a social movement should not be rights (Santos, 2010; Taylor et al., 1998).
considered indispensable for legitimizing this demand, Fraser (1997) understands that with the overcoming of
as it could render the theory regarding new social the socialist paradigm regarding class interests, economic
movements, mentioned earlier, incomplete. According to exploitation, and wealth redistribution, post-socialist
Gohn (1997), the concepts that support such theory are conflicts (ethnicity, gender, sexuality, nationality, etc.) present
not yet sufficiently explicit, as the (new) categories used to group identity as the main mechanism for sociopolitical
explain the forms of these movements would emerge from mobilization. In this sense, this paper does not solely
the outcomes of these social processes. Thus, one can only address the right to the city of all its inhabitants indistinctly,
count on a mere diagnosis of the contemporary collective but (mainly) emphasizes the right to the city of each group
manifestations that generated social movements and the comprising the urban population. Thus, it affirms the right
demarcation of their differences in relation to the past. to active and passive participation for refugees and refugee
This enables the analysis of the (significant) changes, they applicants in the city where they reside. This affirmation is
generated in civil and political society (Gohn, 1997). based on two factors: (i) The human character (“generic”)
Nevertheless, the right to political participation itself, of said right and (ii) consideration of the specificities of said
which is considered in this paper, in principle, as a means group of individuals.
of achieving the (human) right to the city, has also been The right to the city must be recognized and guaranteed
the subject of demands made by collective actions. These to the collectivity that inhabits that space (the “whole”),
demands are even pursued within the same block of social as well as to each specific group that comprises that
movements that fight for the recognition and realization collectivity (the “few”). It is essential to consider the unique
of the right to the city. As an example, the first Municipal characteristics that differentiate these specific groups. This
Conference on Immigrant Policies of the Municipality apparently controversial issue of recognizing the same right
of São Paulo, organized by the São Paulo Municipal in both generic and specific contexts is also addressed by
Department of Human Rights and Citizenship (Secretaria Fraser (1997) when she discusses the redistribution versus
Municipal de Direitos Humanos e Cidadania de São recognition dilemma.
Paulo [SMDHC]), through its Coordination of Policies The author addresses this dilemma without disregarding
for Migrants, took place from November 29 to December the intertwined and mutually supportive relationship
1, 2013. The Conference was organized in collaboration between redistribution and recognition, differentiating
with 13 other municipal secretariats and 14 civil society between injustices concerning economic disadvantages
entities, aimed to foster debate and formulate proposals (exploitation and economic marginalization, for example)
and guidelines that would subsidize public policies for and those concerning cultural disrespect (cultural and
the immigrant population, ultimately advancing the informational domination, for example) (Fraser, 1997).
realization of the right to the city of such individuals, in While recognizing the differences between these forms of
addition to claiming their right to political participation injustice, Fraser (1997) considers that both socioeconomic
(Comissão Organizadora Municipal, 2014). and cultural injustices are widespread in contemporary

4. The search for the recognition of the societies and are rooted (and intersected) in the processes
and practices that systematically disadvantage certain
right to the city of refugees and refugee groups of people in comparison to others.
applicants: For the whole and for the few
However, while the requirements for recognition
As Fraser (1997) points out, the struggle for recognition demand attention to the (eventual) specificity of a certain
of difference occurs within a context of pronounced group and, as a result, the affirmation of its value with

Volume 9 Issue 3 (2023) 89 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.438