(Im)mobilizing Bangkok: Towards an ethnography of urban circulation

Claudio Sopranzetti*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapterpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

This chapter begins from the realization that circulation constituted and shaped the birth and functioning of the modern metropolis: it was transportation infrastructure to guarantee its growth and circulation of people, ideas, and objects to create the typical urban experience of density, anonymity, and living its space as a network. Anthropological studies of these processes, however, have historically suffered from a disconnect between social theory, urban management, and ethnographic analysis. Reconstructing my own fieldwork in Bangkok, I present this work on motorcycle taxis and mobility in Bangkok as part of new attempts to investigate urban circulation ethnographically. In particular, I explore the methodological challenges that emerged from a refusal of the traditional ethnographic precept of focusing on a specific locale or cohesive group.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and the City
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages113-125
Number of pages13
ISBN (Electronic)9781317296980
ISBN (Print)9781138126091
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2018
Externally publishedYes

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