Urban Nightlife: Entertaining Race, Class, and Culture in Public Space

Reuben A. Buford May

Published by Rutgers University Press 2014

Urban Nightlife

Entertaining Race, Class, and Culture in Public Space

Reuben A. Buford May

https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813569406

Overview
Contents

About this book

Sociologists have long been curious about the ways in which city dwellers negotiate urban public space. How do they manage myriad interactions in the shared spaces of the city? In Urban Nightlife, sociologist Reuben May undertakes a nuanced examination of urban nightlife, drawing on ethnographic data gathered in a Deep South college town to explore the question of how nighttime revelers negotiate urban public spaces as they go about meeting, socializing, and entertaining themselves.

May’s work reveals how diverse partiers define these spaces, in particular the ongoing social conflict on the streets, in bars and nightclubs, and in the various public spaces of downtown. To explore this conflict, May develops the concept of “integrated segregation”—the idea that diverse groups are physically close to one another yet rarely have meaningful interactions—rather, they are socially bound to those of similar race, class, and cultural backgrounds. May’s in-depth research leads him to conclude that social tension is stubbornly persistent in part because many participants fail to make the connection between contemporary relations among different groups and the historical and institutional forces that perpetuate those very tensions; structural racism remains obscured by a superficial appearance of racial harmony.

Through May’s observations, Urban Nightlife clarifies the complexities of race, class, and culture in contemporary America, illustrating the direct influence of local government and nightclub management decision-making on interpersonal interaction among groups.

Watch a video with Reuben A. Buford May:

Watch video now. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCs1xExStPw).

Author / Editor information

REUBEN A. BUFORD MAY is a professor of sociology at Texas A & M University and a fellow at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. He is the author of Living Through the Hoop: High School Basketball, Race and the American Dream.

Reviews

"Reuben A. Buford May's Urban Nightlife tells a nuanced story about racial interaction in public space that is rarely conveyed. Using the concept 'integrated segregation,' May's discussion of urban nightlife enhances our understanding of race, class, and culture in America."

— William Julius Wilson, Harvard University

"In addition to urban sociology courses, the book will appeal to instructors teaching interdisciplinary courses on downtown commercial environmentsandurbanism in the U.S. South.

— International Review of Modern Sociology

"Not only is May’s scholarship sound, his narrative style shines and his take on urban nightlife is fresh. Anyone interested in how segregation lives even in ostensibly integrated places should read this book."

— Frederick F. Wherry, Yale University

"Readers and instructors alike will find the tone and writing of the book refreshingly clear and insightful … Drawing on a wonderful mix of ethnographic and interview data, May provides an innovative and necessary assessment of nightlife in urban America."

— American Journal of Sociology

"May's ethnographic writing is rich and engaging … The insighftul nature of his observations and the richness of his ethnographic work generates an interesting challenge for other scholars of the urban night to integrate this into their own work in the future."

— Urban Studies

"This ethnographic study of city public space within the context of 'race' and class, with its concomitant cultural realities, relates to the social interactions of those cultural groups that have historically been segregated at times in North American society. The city in question is undisclosed. What remains is a sociological insight into how public space is occupied and used in ways that allow different cultural groups to mix without mixing. Recommended."

— Choice

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
1. Integrated Segregation in Urban Nightlife Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. What Is Having Fun and Who Has It Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
3. Gendered Interaction, Caravanning Groups, and Social Boundaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
4. Is It a Blackout? Dress Codes in Urban Nightlife Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
5. Knockout: Verbal and Physical Confrontations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
6. When Race Is Explicit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
7. Having Fun in Black and White Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Appendix A. A Brief History of Northeast Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Appendix B. Methodology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223