- In this particular instance the other person present solved the situation. After
I respond negatively to the innuendos, he nudges his friend and says ‘hey man,
don’t spoil it’. The topic is then dropped, we conclude our conversation pleasantly
and from then on they acknowledge, greet and converse with me in a friendly man-
ner in our subsequent encounters. - I trust the reader to understand that the remark does not pertain to the activ-
ity of cycling. - Two men also in the bar during this incident later remark to me that I
handled the situation well. This underpins my impression that the whole bar had
registered the exchange. - The word ‘gezelligheid’ does not translate. I elaborate on its meaning in the
next paragraph. - I do not problematize the concept of ‘groups’ here, but simply use it to
denote three fluid compilations of persons sharing more or less communal charac-
teristics. ‘Groups’ should not be read as ‘discrete, sharply differentiated, internally
homogenous and externally bounded (.) fundamental units of social analysis’
(Brubaker, 2002,p. 164). - I commenced all street interviews by asking three questions: Which three
wordswould you use to describe the square? How often do you come here and
why? Are there any bans on the square? The answers would then steer the direction
of the rest of the interview. I would not specifically ask for gender, ethnicity and
age. If these facts did not come out of the conversation I would attempt an estima-
tion. The first question on words describing the square is inspired by Bryan Lawson
(2001, p. 231). - A general prohibition on causing nuisance can be found in all local, munici-
palbylaws. However, as the local police officer of the area also states: nuisance
caused is hard to prove if it is not connected to a specific conduct, such as gathering
with more than three persons or using a certain substance. - I feel the need to add that in due course I did succeed in accosting the
Somali’s. I became more or less an accepted presence to them after they tried and
found nothing happened when they traded and consumed qat in my presence.
Eventually I was adopted as a personified handbook for bureaucratic issues they
struggled with. Nonetheless, I was never really trusted or confided in.
REFERENCES
Allen, D. (2011). Foreword to the 2011 edition. In I. M. Young (Ed.),Justice and the politics
of difference(pp. ixx). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Anderson, L. (2006a). Analytical autoethnography.Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35 ,
373 395.
Anderson, L. (2006b). On apples, oranges, and autopsies: A response to commentators.
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35 , 450465.
Blichner, L. C., & Molander, A. (2008). Mapping juridification.European Law Journal, 14 (1),
36 54.
16 DANIELLE CHEVALIER