The just city for whom? Re-conceiving active citizenship for lone mothers in Canada

Abstract

In this article we argue that the ‘just city’ is one that enables individuals to exercise their citizenship, including making choices to participate (or not) in communal existence. However, inequities in resource distribution encountered by lone mothers on income assistance threaten not only individual sustenance and survival, but also the foundational fabric of our society. The implication that an active citizen is one who exercises their rights and responsibilities in a balanced way is problematic, and has the potential to add blame to poverty, justifying exclusion rather than inclusion. Using qualitative data from a longitudinal study of lone mothers in extreme poverty in Vancouver, British Columbia we illustrate how macro-processes within cities (i.e., delivery of affordable housing, food security, childcare, transportation) impinge upon the micro-processes of these women's lives (i.e., impacts on health, economic security, social mobility). Focusing on citizenship as a set of constrained choices challenges the policies and practices of social planning to consider how the scope of citizenship can be expanded by shaping key urban opportunities. Grounding the vision of a just city in the potential for personal agency suggests that policymakers and planners have a key role in shaping citizenship for the most marginalized and oppressed through a combination of providing supports and enabling opportunities in the urban environment.

En este artículo proponemos que la ‘ciudad justa’ es aquella que permite a los individuos ejercer su ciudadanía, incluyendo la decisión de participar (o no) en la existencia comunal. Sin embargo, las inequidades en la distribución de los recursos que encuentran las madres solas que dependen de la asistencia económica, amenazan no sólo el sustento y la supervivencia individual, sino también el tejido fundacional de nuestra sociedad. La implicación de que una ciudadana activa es la que ejerce sus derechos y responsabilidades en forma balanceada es problemática, y tiene el potencial de agregar culpa a la pobreza, justificando la exclusión en vez de la inclusión. Utilizando datos cualitativos de un estudio longitudinal en madres solas en situación de pobreza extrema en Vancouver, British Columbia, ilustramos cómo los macro procesos dentro de las ciudades (es decir, el acceso a la vivienda, la seguridad alimentaria, el cuidado de los niños, el transporte) repercuten sobre los micro procesos de las vidas de estas mujeres (es decir los impactos en la salud, la seguridad económica, la movilidad social). Centrarse en la ciudadanía como un conjunto de elecciones limitadas desafía las políticas y prácticas del planeamiento social para considerar cómo el alcance de la ciudadanía puede ser ampliado reformando oportunidades claves en el ambiente urbano. Afirmar la visión de una ciudad justa en el potencial de la agencia personal sugiere que quienes desarrollan las políticas y los las planifican tienen un rol clave a la hora de dar forma a la ciudadanía para los más marginalizados y oprimidos a través de una combinación de la provisión de apoyo y facilitando la creación de oportunidades en el ambiente urbano.

Keywords:

• urban justice
• lone mothers
• local governance
• social planning

Keywords:

• justicia urbana
• madres solas
• gobernancia local
• planeamiento social

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this article was presented at the International Sociological Association Research Committee 21 conference on Urban Justice and Sustainability held at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (22–25 August 2007). We would like to thank the Just City Panel participants who asked penetrating and critical questions that enabled us to improve the article significantly. The comments by three anonymous referees and the GPC editor, Robyn Longhurst, were extremely helpful in shaping our argument and we are grateful for their suggestions. In addition, we enjoy a critical and evolving conversation on this material with our community partners, Michael Goldberg, retired, of the Social Planning and Research Council of BC, and with the project academic partners, Dr Jane Pulkingham (PI), Dr Sylvia Fuller and Dr Paul Kershaw.

Notes

1. All names of research participants are pseudonyms.

2. The Income Assistance Project, from which our research is derived, was a five-year study funded through the Consortium for Health, Intervention, Learning and Development (CHILD), a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Major Collaborative Research Initiative (MCRI) project.

3. Benefits are calculated on the basis of number of children up to a maximum of three children. Additional small amounts ($25) may be paid as crisis grants occasionally, and as the women describe, with medical documentation a special dietary allowance of $45 may be paid for specific medical conditions. Federal family bonus allowances of approximately $200 per child are also provided, calculated on the previous year's income.