“Diverse Ormeau, shared Ormeau”. Lutte pour l’appropriation symbolique d’un quartier en cours de gentrification en Irlande du Nord

Abstract

The article retraces a struggle for the symbolic appropriation of a gentrifying neighbourhood in Belfast. This struggle has crystallized around the erection of unionist flags, symbols of the will to maintain Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. Since the mid-2010s, a group of homeowners has been mobilizing to demand the removal of these flags in public spaces in the name of "shared space" and "social mix". These discourses are often mobilised to legitimize gentrification of attractive inner cities. However, we explain that the endorsement of "mixing" by these homeowners is not limited to a willingness to justify gentrification. The homeowners’ mobilization against the flags can be analysed in terms of the transformation of class relations, but also the transformation of ethnic relations. We show that these group members, who belong to the upper middle class and declare themselves mainly "catholics", struggle to control the presence of the flags in a neighbourhood in which individuals assigned as "catholics" used to be discriminated. The homeowners face the opposition of unionist politicians who wish to perpetuate their domination in the neighbourhood. They nonetheless ignore the contestations brought by organizations on housing inequalities in a context of gentrification and privatization of social housing.

Keywords

• public space
• inequality
• gentrification
• space appropriation