The work of the Third World geographer in the Fourth World : economically marginalised people, slum dwellers and homeless in Paris

What can the work of Third World geographers reveal about contemporary urban crises in the First World? Growing inequalities and expanding urban poverty in the Global North invite dialogue with perspectives developed in the Global South. This article examines these dynamics through research conducted in the Paris metropolitan region, focusing on the sans domicile fixe population. The study combines a literature review with fieldwork conducted between 2012 and 2020 across approximately 80 communes in the Paris region. Drawing on Milton Santos’ O trabalho do geógrafo no terceiro mundo (The Work of the Geographer in the Third World) and the idea of a Fourth World, the article examines these contradictions from a southern geographical perspective. Using methods such as cartography and sketching, the research critically analyses contradictory forms of poverty in Global North and their complex interconnections with the reproduction of poverty in the Global South. The article challenges dominant spatial binaries and demonstrates how geographical perspectives developed in the Global South provide critical insights into contemporary urban crises and global socio-territorial inequalities.