Spring 2022
The flâneur (and flâneuse) is a popular character in arts and letters from the mid 19th century through the 20th century. A flaneur/flaneuse is a city observer, wanderer, or people-watcher, someone who enjoys taking in and reflecting on the hustle and bustle around them.
For your first paper I am asking you to explore and observe (part of) Boston in this spirit, with an eye to some of the phenomena below.
Pick a part of the city that you would like to explore and observe. Some ideas: Haymarket green market; a park, a beach, a cafe, ride a subway line from one end to the other. Go with a buddy and a fully- charged cellphone. Go somewhere at a time where there’s lots of people (remember: ‘eyes on the street’). Use the How to Study Public Life book for ideas and suggestions on how to take notes on what you observe. Be polite and respectful. Be safe and street savvy.
Some questions: Who is out and about? Why? What uses are they putting the space to? How are they sharing the space? How do various external factors (weather, COVID protocols, time of day) effect this? How and why might one’s experiences of such space differ? How does or might age, disability, race, gender, class, sexuality, etc effect one’s use of space?
Be on the lookout for some of the below phenomena that we’ve discussed in class. Use the How to Study Public Life book for ideas and suggestions. drawing on ideas from Adam Smith, Jane Jacobs, Brendon del Pozo, Cheshire Calhoun, and others:
– social norms/conventions (or their breakdown)
– evidence or examples of implicit trust (or its breakdown)
– informal norm enforcement/sanctioning (e.g. neighbors or strangers or others)
– formal norm enforcement/sanction (e.g. police or security or others)
– moments of awkwardness or conflict
– Smith’s “truck, barter, exchange”
– Smithian necessities vs. luxuries
– Calhounian common decencies
– evidence of a division of labor
– negative externalities
– examples of injustice, marginalization, oppression (remember Iris Marion Young)
– evidence of differences in bargaining power or position (remember Marx and the Schmoos)
– any other phenomena from the semester that we’ve talked about
When you get home, look at your notes and reflect on your experience. Meet with me at office hours if it would be helpful. Think about what you observed and see what sticks out to you.
Write a brief 3-5 page reflection piece on your experiences, where you explicitly document at least 3 of the above phenomena that you observed, where you observed them, in as much detail as you can manage.
Think about how what you observed relates to city life and the ‘social contract.’ What is required, based on your observations, for shared life in a city of strangers?
Worth: 150 points.
