Youth and Spatial Stigmatization in Moroccan Slums

Resisting Marginalization and Managing Identity A Case Study of The "Hay El wad" in Salé City

Abstract

This study aims to provide an in-depth sociological analysis of spatial stigma as a form of social construction within slum neighborhoods in Morocco, with a particular focus on Hay Al Oued as a representative case. The study is grounded in a central hypothesis that spatial stigma affecting these marginalized urban spaces is not a natural given nor merely a direct reflection of material deprivation; rather, it is the outcome of a complex and intertwined interaction among various social and institutional actors. These include formal institutions, informal actors, the media, as well as security agencies, all of which contribute—directly or indirectly—to the production and reproduction of negative stereotypes that reinforce this stigma and give it a quasi-structural character. Theoretically, the study draws on the constructionist approach, which views social reality as the product of ongoing processes of interaction and interpretation. It also builds on interactionist sociology, particularly the Goffmanian perspective, to analyze the mechanisms through which stigma is constructed and expressed in everyday social interactions. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews conducted with residents of the neighborhood, with particular attention given to youth as the group most exposed to stigma and most actively engaged with it. The study further seeks to explore the forms of social resistance developed by young people in response to various forms of discrimination and symbolic exclusion associated with spatial belonging. This is achieved through an analysis of their everyday practices and discourses, highlighting the dynamics of negotiation and identity reconstruction within a marginalized and stigmatized urban context.