Stressed urban centres, such as Winnipeg’s inner city, are the destination of growing numbers of poor refugees and immigrants, resulting in rising levels of spatially-concentrated poverty that is increasingly racialized, feminized and multi-generational. While provincial policies increase immigration to Manitoba, inner-city Winnipeg becomes the destination of people referred to as “victim-diaspora”, who face major economic, social and cultural challenges. Their presence increases the complexity of inner-city problems. While there are studies of this phenomenon in Toronto and Vancouver, we need systematic academic analyses of Prairie centres such as Winnipeg, where a growing number of Aboriginal migrants (who move back and forth between Winnipeg and communities located throughout the province) live next to new immigrants and refugees.
Despite a history of significant public investment and innovation, poverty and social exclusion persist in Manitoba’s inner-city and Aboriginal communities. While conventional, one-dimensional strategies have had little effect, alternative CD strategies show promise, but face barriers.
Our research seeks to identify these barriers, explain their tenacity, and develop strategies that are transformative—that enable communities to overcome poverty and social exclusion in ways of their choosing. Our rich, multi-method approach draws on a wide range of theories to explain the underlying structures and forces that marginalize diverse peoples and reproduce their poverty. We will work simultaneously at levels that are micro, meso and macro, linking these levels to develop holistic explanations and transformative strategies.
For more about the project visit www.manitobaresearchalliance-tiac.ca.