“Being different together” in public space: young people, everyday cosmopolitanism and parochial atmospheres

ABSTRACT

This paper studies the phenomenon of ‘everyday cosmopolitanism’ based on fieldwork and interviews with young people in the public space of Brussels, conducted between 2013 and 2016. Although the open and positive inter-cultural practices observed in public space are echoed in the tolerant attitudes expressed by these youngsters, my research also revealed the existence of racist and ethnic stereotype. This begs the question about the contingencies and the limits of this type of ‘everyday cosmopolitanism’. This paper argues that that an investigation of the emergences and disappearances of tolerant attitudes can be better understood and localised by engaging in an atmospheric translation of Lyn Lofland’s notion of the ‘parochial realm’.

Cet article étudie le phénomène du « cosmopolitisme au quotidien » à partir d’enquêtes de terrain et d’entretiens avec des jeunes dans les espaces publics de Bruxelles, effectués entre 2013 et 2016. Bien que les pratiques interculturelles ouvertes et positives observées dans les espaces publics soient reflétées dans les attitudes tolérantes exprimées par ces jeunes, ma recherche a aussi révélé l’existence de stéréotypes racistes et ethniques. Cela soulève la question des contingences et des limites de ce type de « cosmopolitisme au quotidien ». Cet article soutient que l’investigation des émergences et des disparitions des attitudes tolérantes peut être mieux comprise et localisée par le biais d’une traduction atmosphérique de la notion de « royaume paroissial » de Lyn Lofland.

Este documento estudia el fenómeno del ‘cosmopolitismo cotidiano’ basado en el trabajo de campo ylas entrevistas con jóvenes en el espacio público de Bruselas, realizado entre 2013 y2016. Aunque las prácticas interculturales abiertas ypositivas observadas en el espacio público se reflejan en las actitudes tolerantes expresadas por estos jóvenes, la investigación también reveló la existencia de estereotipos racistas yétnicos. Esto plantea la pregunta sobre las contingencias ylos límites de este tipo de ‘cosmopolitismo cotidiano’. Este artículo sostiene que una investigación de las emergencias ydesapariciones de actitudes tolerantes se puede entender ylocalizarse mejor al realizar una traducción atmosférica de la noción de Lyn Lofland del ‘reino parroquial’.

KEYWORDS:

• Young people
• public space
• Brussels
• everyday cosmopolitanism
• parochial atmospheres

MOTS CLÉS:

• jeunes
• lieux publics
• Bruxelles
• cosmopolitisme quotidien
• atmosphères paroissiales

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• jóvenes
• espacio público
• Bruselas
• cosmopolitismo cotidiano
• ambientes parroquiales

Acknowledgments

I want to thank the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO) for having made this research project possible, and Jenneke Christiaens, Els Enhus, Lucas Melgaço, Bas van Heur, Myriam Houssay-Holzschuch, Ilse van Liempt and Erik Claes for comments delivered on earlier versions of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. La Ville Mon Espace was made by Mattias De Backer and Brecht Vanhoenacker. The film is available at http://www.vubtoday.be/nl/content/docu-la-ville-mon-espace-brusselse-jongeren-en-hun-wijk.

2. Source: BISA – Brussels Statistics. See: http://statistics.brussels/themes/population/population#.WyJCm1OFMWo.

3. The data on unemployment used in this section are taken from the website http://wijkmonitoring.brussels which collects all the latest data from the Brussels employment agency Actiris and the Belgian statistics agency Statistics Belgium. The latest unemployment data were collected in 2012.

4. This title is a reference to the Paul Simon song ‘The boy in the bubble’. However, I do not want to give the impression that only boys can inhabit such a bubble.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [G063312N].