Divided we stand: gated communities, fear and violence in Guatemala City

Abstract

Within the academic discourse on enclave urbanism in Latin America,gated communities are frequently portrayed as socially homogeneousenclaves, ostensibly justified by concerns over crime, yet fundamentallyshaped by residents’ reluctance to engage with social diversity – andthus largely unaffected by broader social currents. In this article, I arguethat such a dualistic framing offers too narrow a lens. I demonstrate thatthe mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion underpinning gated com-munities are inherently flawed. As a result, fear and distrust continue tofragment rather than unify, even within the boundaries of theseenclaves. Moreover, I contend that in a city of wild violence, lived expe-riences of violence should not be too readily dismissed as a driverbehind the rise of gated living. Yet I also propose a more fundamentalreason to question the stark contrast often drawn between life insideand outside the walls: like many other Guatemalans, residents of gatedcommunities frequently express a deep-seated distrust of their fellowcitizens, rooted in the country’s long history of exploitation, terror andviolence. In this context, the urge to withdraw, also within gated com-munities, is a response not only to perceived social heterogeneity – thedifferences – but also to what people have in common.