Informal settlements: a critical media analysis on Chile's campamentos

Abstract

The thesis studies media narratives of campamentos (shantytowns) from a critical perspective. In the light of Bourdieu´s theory of social reproduction, the work seeks to uncover the ways in which these narratives reproduce the marginal status of informal settlements by reinforcing discourses of hard work and effort as a way to achieve the solutions of formal housing, while ignoring structural explanations behind this reality. Furthermore, while the media's reports of "solidarity" through stories of mutual aid also serve to reinforce discourses of campamento dwellers as solving issues 'on their own', it also provides evidence of agency, organisation and the mobilising power within these communities which might be a key factor in rethinking the claims towards the right to the city.