Political Remarks on the Notion of Gated Communities as Club Goods

João Carlos Graça ()

No wp082010, Working Papers from SOCIUS, Research Centre in Economic and Organisational Sociology at the School of Economics and Management (ISEG) of the University of Lisbon

Abstract: It is debated how much conceptualizations of the phenomenon of gated communities under the lenses of public choice theory may configure a misleading approach. The typifying of goods by mainstream economics is briefly presented and discussed, attention being directed to how much these must (and should) be institutionally rooted discussions. Shortcomings of economics-inspired discourse in capturing the logics of political life are underlined. The eruption of gated communities is referred to obvious deficiencies in public provision of goods that are often characteristic of situations of blockages in development processes and high inequalities in the distribution of both wealth and political and symbolic resources. These traits have clear implications in the shifting definition of limits between private and public spheres across societies. The cumulative circular causations of these phenomena are highlighted, as well as their largely “performative” nature.

Keywords: gated communities; public choice; club goods; politics; performative effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-08
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