Paper short abstract:

Cova da Moura is a neighbourhood built by its poor, migrant, and multi-ethnic residents, mostly of African origin or descent, on the outskirts of Lisbon, using mutual aid practices which resulted in a strong and active associative network that resists demolition, relocation and expulsion.

Paper long abstract:

Cova da Moura is an informal neighbourhood built and inhabited by a migrant and multi-ethnic population, most of African origin and decent, on the periphery of Lisbon. It's a place of symbolic and spatial borders. Cova da Moura is a mediatized space, and the object of hybrid discourses that stigmatize and rehabilitate it. It is regarded as an ethnic enclave and a ghetto. It is also a touristic place, where guided tours are conducted. Kola San Jon, an event held annually, has recently become cultural heritage as part of a strategy to legitimize Cova da Moura and its population. it is also a center for blackness. The neighbourhood was recently the subject of a state initiative for socio-spatial qualification, which was subsequently suspended. Even though national and city authorities value diversity, this neighbourhood remains at risk of demolition and its population at risk of expulsion and of social exclusion, suffering frequently from police violence. My research aimed to observe the political, social, economic, cultural, and symbolic interactions held between this neighbourhood (and its residents), and the various areas of the metropolitan area of Lisbon, seeking to discuss their different integration strategies in society as well as the marginalization traits as they are perceived from inside Cova da Moura as well as from outside. I did fieldwork, which allowed me to have access to the neighbourhood’s routine, doing participant observation in a local association and I also researched media content and conducted interviews.