Gentrification, migration, and non-material injustice

Gentrification can harm residents at a personal and emotional level, even when they are not physically displaced. Recognising these non-material harms as a source of wrongful ‘phenomenological displacement’ helps understanding why gentrification is unjust. But it also raises a challenge: similar harms are reported by communities that receive a large influx of needy migrants. If phenomenological displacement grounds injustice in gentrification, does it follow that mass incoming migration is also unjust? This is an unacceptable conclusion, insofar as hosting needy migrants is a requirement of justice. Drawing from insights in the debate of affective injustice, I argue that while hosting needy migrants is a universal duty, the affective burdens linked to the fulfilment of this duty are often distributed unjustly.