2018 Articles

Slums: Disassembling the Concept

De Castro Mazarro, Alejandro

The idea that language constructs realities is almost commonplace. When looking at problematic contexts, however, the urgency to find a solution makes us forget that language also constructed this reality. By analyzing the concept of ‘slum,’ this text explains that its construction as a massive problem at a global level demanded an ambiguity that allowed it to adapt both to the different realities and to the expansive interests of the global agencies in charge of solving it.