'Crossing the line': a boundary transgression model of resistance to desegregation

Dixon, J, Durrheim, K, Tredoux, C, McKeown, S, Stevenson, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2438-6425 and Huck, J, 2025. 'Crossing the line': a boundary transgression model of resistance to desegregation. European Review of Social Psychology. ISSN 1046-3283

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Abstract

Informal patterns of spatial division often persist in historically divided societies where segregation has been officially dismantled. This paper presents a theoretical model to explain why, focusing on the desegregation–resegregation dynamic. The Boundary Transgression Model highlights two interconnected pathways - social psychological and human geographic - that shape intergroup relations under conditions of change, fostering the re-emergence of distance, division, and contact avoidance. It frames resistance to desegregation as a response to constructions of boundary transgression, “ruptures” to the sociospatial order. The argument is developed through a 25-year research programme in post-apartheid South Africa and post-accord Northern Ireland. The paper also proposes an expanded integration strategy, complementing the prejudice reduction model of change in social psychology. This aims to transform not only person–person but also person–place relations, bringing social psychologists into dialogue with environmental psychology, geography, and urban sociology, and with practitioners in urban design, public policy, and architecture.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	European Review of Social Psychology
Creators:	Dixon, J., Durrheim, K., Tredoux, C., McKeown, S., Stevenson, C. and Huck, J.
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Date:	30 August 2025
ISSN:	1046-3283
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/10463283.2025.2550110 DOI 2501049 Other
Rights:	© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	19 Sep 2025 13:41
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2025 13:41
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54378

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