Women and the Gender Gap in Urban Sociology

This research paper explores the role of women talk (schmoozing) and the gender gap in urban sociology. In the discussions concerning the changing face of the Dutch inner cities, there is an increasing tendency for attention to be paid to ethnicity, without a concomitant analysis of the impact of gender in these neighbourhoods. Many Dutch urban theorists focus on examining both the levels and effects of segregation in urban neighbourhoods and how this impacts integration and community building in the Netherlands. This study, in seeking to redress this imbalance, firmly places women at the centre of urban theoretical enquiry. Using the results of unstructured interviews and observation I am able to offer an assessment of the many ways in which ethnically embedded gender relations have impacted on the urban and social spaces known as Afrikaanderwijk. A key line of enquiry being: what role do women play and how are they visible in/at the local neighbourhood level, specifically in the form of everyday, informal social contacts?