STREET ‘ENTREPRENEURS’, OR THE DISPUTE OVER VISIBILITY IN THE URBAN PUBLIC SPACE Cover Image

ULICZNI „PRZEDSIĘBIORCY”, CZYLI SPÓR O WIDZIALNOŚĆ W PRZESTRZENI PUBLICZNEJ MIASTA
STREET ‘ENTREPRENEURS’, OR THE DISPUTE OVER VISIBILITY IN THE URBAN PUBLIC SPACE

Author(s): Beata Kowalczyk
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Rural and urban sociology
Published by: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
Keywords: street trading; handel uliczny; public space; przestrzeń publiczna; urban space; prze-strzeń miasta; social invisibility; społeczna niewidzialność

Summary/Abstract: This text is an attempt at a sociological description of the phenomenon of street trading as a form of (in)visible presence in the public space of the city. Street traders are (in)visible in the sense that, in breaking the legal regulations setting the frame for public visibility, they must be invisible to the apparatus of power in order to avoid fines and ensure their ability to achieve their aims, their livelihoods. On the one hand, street traders balance on the edge of the law, transgressing the public order, and on the other hand, they are active creators of its (in)visible portion, metaphorically speaking — protesters against the established socio-cultural structures but in reality people seeking the means to survive.

  • Issue Year: 60/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 69-85
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Polish