Tensions of Social Segregation in Neringa: What does the Label of an ‘Invasive’ Tell us About Relations of Social, Symbolic and Physical Space?

Abstract

This chapter examines the social tensions resulting from rising social segregation in the Curonian Spit. The analysis of these processes shows a limited explanatory power of the gentrification debate or its derivative notions. Based on the case study of the Neringa city, the core of which is constituted of housing histories of new-comers and old-timers of this area, the article shows important contextual nuances of this place, which are important for understanding of the experience of socio-spatial segregation, as well as their causes and the effects. The old-timers of Neringa are observing changing lifestyles, which affect the symbolic meanings of this place. They experience feelings of symbolic displacement. At the same time, new-comers of the place are facing difficulties of social integration. They are labelled as the ‘invasives’. With this case, study the reader is invited to critically revisit preconceived explanations of the main actors and outcomes of segregation processes outlined in gentrification debates. As a methodological alternative, the Bourdieusian triad of social space, symbolic space and physical space is suggested to explain socio-spatial changes in such areas.