The Defendants. The Defensive Functions of Communities in Urban Conflict (Based on a Case Study in Novosibirsk)

Abstract

As the pace of development accelerates in large cities, the resistance of their inhabitants towards the changes that threaten their identity and quality of life grows stronger. Such resistance is realized in a broad spectrum of strategies: from passive (closing off territories and communities) to active (conflict). Aversion to change strengthens the defensive functions of communities and stimulates the emergence of defensiveness. This article develops a theoretical framework to study the nature of such communities as specific agents in urban conflicts, and to identify their types and markers. Study data comprise 101 cases of urban conflict in Novosibirsk during the last ten years, 40 interviews with participants and experts, and the results of content-analysis of local media resources.
The “defensive community” is defined as an active group of people that unite to defend the local social and physical spaces from changes that do not align with the community members’ image of the desired state or development. Their key trait is the prevalence of negative goals (avoiding undesirable future states) over positive goals (achieving desired future states). The main triggers that boost the defensive functions of the community are developments in real estate and urban infrastructure. The study reveals that the likelihood of defensive communities emerging is higher in socially or geographically isolated territories, in locations with stable inner-generational connections between the locals, with a relatively affluent and educated population, and with a solid image of “the good old days”. Being “project” communities, defensive communities emerge to attain a certain goal and naturally dissolve once it is attained. However, the accumulated shared experience, the unity of the community’s core, and the personal characteristics of the leaders can help maintain the stability of such communities. A flexible structure with a core and a broad supporting group also allows them to react to new threats or participate in territorial development and become a source of civil and social competence.