SOCIO-CULTURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES: A STUDY OF SLUMS OF RIVER RAVI, LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Abstract

This paper focuses on the exploration of multidimensional socio cultural and psychological factors which effects the lives of slum dwellers, living along the River Ravi, in Lahore and  attempts to unmask the interplay through a case study approach by focusing on the individual and collective experiences of people living there, and exploring the multi-faceted nature of these dynamics. The landscape of the slum dwellers of Ravi is both colorful and problematic as cultural norms and traditions are ways of managing the identity, however, it also creates inequality and restlessness especially among women and children with regards to education and other basic necessities. Together with the view on residents of areas of informal settlements around River Ravi as the "other", the primary focus of this work is to understand these dynamics which further perpetuate stigmatization and exclusion. These factors alongside integrating socio cultural norms worsen the condition of that specific portion of the population. Their economic situation can be characterized by lack of employment opportunities, wage theft, and unstable income. Most of them are heavily dependent on informal work without any assurance of employment contracts which opens them to external economic shocks. Therefore, this paper tries to stress that it is a cyclical phenomenon where the living conditions of these informal settlers below the accepted minimum standard spiral out of control due to a lack of proper accommodation, potable water, and food and inertially get imprisoned, rendering the individual powerless.