Where students of African cities spoke of ‘detribalization’, Latin American social scientists speak of ‘marginality’, in reference to the relation of shanty town dwellers both to the dominant culture (the emphasis of the earlier Peruvian term, ‘cholofication’) and to the modern sector economy. Research has questioned how ‘marginal’ in these senses the urban poor are, but the importance of the term lies in what it tells us not just about the people it describes, but about the people who use it. ‘Marginality’ may be marginal to the poor's perception of themselves, but central in the thinking of dominant groups—and thus important in affecting their actions, and the course of events.