Political and cultural events in the Parisian métro: manifestations of urban or mobile communities ?

Political and cultural events in the Parisian métro: manifestations of urban or mobile communities ?

[SHS:GEO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography

subway

territory

semi-structured interviews

The expression of social groups is not likely to be promoted in areas originally planned as technical artifacts. Cultural and political events are congestion factors, incompatible with the main value of any network: fluidity. However, from the beginning of the 1980's, the Parisian city transport authority (RATP) initiated a process of “humanization” of its spaces. Since then, Culture has been springing up in the Paris métro in many ways, ranging from live performances of famous artists (Placebo, PJ Harvey, Supergrass, etc.) to exhibitions, including the redesigning of certain. Each of these events is an underground manifestation of wider urban cultures, as evidenced by the design of the Louvres-Rivoli station, which reproduces the works exhibited in the eponymic museum – clearly a way of displaying the city's patrimony. The invited artists are not issued from the subway anymore: they became famous in a much wider cultural area, the occidental one. Political activity is still officially excluded, though: demonstrating in the métro spaces has been forbidden since 1948, there are no notice boards devoted to public expression, and even leafletting is prohibited.<br /><br />Nevertheless, since the begining of the 2000's, political events have mushroomed all over the network, in illegal ways. Between 2001 and 2003, hundreds of advertising posters were smeared by anticapitalist and feminist activists. Several anarchist unions also organized “open door” sessions (during which people did not have to pay to enter the métro), thereby advocating free transport. These movements have been followed by spontaneous action, of a political but also of a cultural type, as exemplified by flash mobs or subway parties. Using various examples, we intend to show that each time political and cultural events bloom spontaneously, they specifically refer to the métro. A transformation is happening that managing authorities have not planned: the métro is becoming less and less of an urban network and more and more of a territory in itself.

Tillous, Marion

Political and cultural events in the Parisian métro: manifestations of urban or mobile communities ?

2009-03

ENG

conference, seminar, workshop communication

http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00414679

http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/41/46/79/PDF/AAG-MT-2009.pdf

http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/41/46/79/ANNEX/AAG-MT-SupportPPT.pdf

Las Vegas

United States