Adonia E. Lugo
lugoa@uci.edu
Graduate Student in Anthropology
University of California, Irvine
(949) 547-3686
From Observer to Ethnographer: Flânerie on a Bicycle
Anthropologists have long championed the ephemeral moments of cultural life that offer
emotional resonance if not quantifiable value. In what ways can this attention to ecstatic life
contribute to city planning? My research suggests taking cycling seriously as a form of
placemaking. In automonopolized Los Angeles, riding a bicycle can be a harrowing struggle.
How have bicyclists managed to make these unfriendly streets passable?
The rich legacy of the flâneur foregrounds walking as a particularly poetic mode of travel
through cities. Bicycling has strong roots in this tradition of flânerie, wherein a cosmopolitan
observer travels unobstructed through urban space. Problematically, much of this literature relies
on the expertise of the observer to read urban space without engaging other users of the space.
How can the anthropologist bridge the gap between flânerie and ethnography, between theory
and practice? I suggest that a radical acceptance of all bicyclists as flâneurs creates a population
that the ethnographer can engage with to understand placemaking.
A new geographic trend highlights the role of mobility in placemaking, suggesting that
even trips between destinations matter. This valorizes the trips of all cyclists as potentially
meaningful acts, whether they bike for fun, exercise, ideological reasons, or out of economic
necessity. Anthropological sensitivity to cultural difference can be useful in creating connections
between these various cyclists. In the automonopolized city, where alternate mobilities suffer
both spatially and psychologically, greater understanding between different types of cyclists is
crucial to legitimizing this form of transport.
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In riding a bicycle with different types of cyclists, the bicycling ethnographer can gain
access to different conceptions of urban space. I hope to create meaningful representations of an
alternate view of Los Angeles. This other city, where it is possible to live car-free, can offer
important details to urban planning processes that increasingly get opened to community input.
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