Territory

Abstract

This chapter addresses territoriality in outer East London. Territory (often in the context of the neighbourhood) has durable currency in studies of urban and youth culture. This chapter examines the transformation of territory as a dimension of urban multiculture. Focusing on Leyham Youth Club, with some material from the After School Club, it argues that to understand the politics of territory in outer East London, it is necessary to understand how different territorial practices and performances interact in the contemporary neoliberal context. For example, it is necessary to understand how young people’s post-code conflicts relate to the policing of urban space and to the neocommunitarianism of the youth club. Additionally, therefore, it is necessary to note how policing practices have expanded and how communitarianism is being redefined through neoliberalism and autochthony. Central to understanding these different, and interrelated, practices is an appreciation for the ways in which race, gender and masculinity are imbricated into the fabric of the city — that is, the ways in which exclusive and inclusive racial, classed and gendered geographies of the city relate to post-code conflicts, policing and communitarianism in the neoliberal moment.