Young people and the night - nocturnal leisures of Portimão
Young people and the night - nocturnal leisures of Portimão
Research on youth appropriation of the night is an incursion by groups, spaces and times. The temporal dimension seems standard at first glance. In opposition to the daily period, the night is a homogeneous category, but, if considered in itself, it separates into different temporalities, segmentations of time that take on their own meanings based on youth appropriation. It is the meanings that create the divisions. The night, the representation of night, is never the same. Which night is one referring to? What route is taken? Just one example: what time does it start and end? Is there only one answer, or on the contrary multiple answers, based on the nocturnal culture(s)?
If we talk about multiple answers, we think of different groups, possibly youth subcultures. If the representations of the night vary, various occurrences in the forms of action and communication are produced. The appropriation of the night translates into what practices? What forms of communication does it originate in the actors that carry out such practices? How do young people in the nocturnal course come together (and separate)?
The nocturnal times are associated with nocturnal spaces, giving rise to itineraries. As one changes space one advances in the night. That is, not only in the chromatic time measured by clocks, but also in the sense of nocturnal temporality. The entry into a new temporality is marked by a change in the meaning of time or simply of duration. The change of place, the encounter with a new space, at times marks the beginning of that new temporality, of another location in time. But it is not necessarily a condition. The succession of temporality can occur in the same spatial location. In the same way, the change of space does not always bring about a change in temporality. And that change is not independent from the action of leisure, its conditions and effects. Leisure and meaning, two terms for the constitution of a night culture, played by actors, spaces and times. It is, nevertheless, necessary to be careful to not consider that/those culture(s) ad self-centred manifestations, immune to external influence and implications. On the contrary, the night cultures are normally quite visible in their manifestations and consequences and oftentimes resistant to reactions from the exterior. What perspectives are established between the cultures of the night and the reactions of the city? What complementarities, tolerances and divergences emerge? What dialogues are possible? How does one manage the boundary of limits?
In methodological terms, the project is an assessment of the nocturnal leisure activities of young people, exploring the conditions they are based on, the manifestations that characterise them and the consequences they give rise to. It shall be based essentially on a «qualitative» methodology, resorting to a set of information collection techniques, namely:
- Collection of statistical information
- Participant-Observation
- Group interviews
- Individual interviews
Each technique is implemented at specific moments of the research with a view to collecting a particular type of information. Therefore:
The purpose of the collection of statistical information is to identify and characterise the «structural» conditions of the youth situation in the municipality. This information shall enable one to establish the social profiles and weights of the different «young peoples»: students of secondary and higher education, young workers, unemployed or without work, young people of the «periphery», young married people, etc.
The second technique shall always be present while the fieldwork lasts. Indispensable to become acquainted with and draw a map of the spaces, the itineraries, the manifestations of the culture of the night. It shall also permit the observation of the leisure activities in loco and establish bridges for possible interviewees.
The group interview is a privileged form of accessing the representations of the night and the nocturnal leisure activities of young people. The carrying out of six to eight group interviews is foreseen, focusing on the more representative youth categories.
The individual interview shall be the technique that one will resort to more frequently, thus constituting the privileged vehicle of information collection. The use of the technique shall be applied to two universes of actors. On the one hand, to the «representatives» of the city (public powers and civilian structures), with a view to identifying and characterising the reactions of the «city» to the youth culture of the night. On the other hand, to the young people that live at night so as to gather information about the itineraries and nocturnal leisure activities. The main idea is to capture the diversity of nocturnal cultures and their underlying logics.
Research on youth appropriation of the night is an incursion by groups, spaces and times. The temporal dimension seems standard at first glance. In opposition to the daily period, the night is a homogeneous category, but, if considered in itself, it separates into different temporalities, segmentations of time that take on their own meanings based on youth appropriation. It is the meanings that create the divisions. The night, the representation of night, is never the same. Which night is one referring to? What route is taken? Just one example: what time does it start and end? Is there only one answer, or on the contrary multiple answers, based on the nocturnal culture(s)?
If we talk about multiple answers, we think of different groups, possibly youth subcultures. If the representations of the night vary, various occurrences in the forms of action and communication are produced. The appropriation of the night translates into what practices? What forms of communication does it originate in the actors that carry out such practices? How do young people in the nocturnal course come together (and separate)?
The nocturnal times are associated with nocturnal spaces, giving rise to itineraries. As one changes space one advances in the night. That is, not only in the chromatic time measured by clocks, but also in the sense of nocturnal temporality. The entry into a new temporality is marked by a change in the meaning of time or simply of duration. The change of place, the encounter with a new space, at times marks the beginning of that new temporality, of another location in time. But it is not necessarily a condition. The succession of temporality can occur in the same spatial location. In the same way, the change of space does not always bring about a change in temporality. And that change is not independent from the action of leisure, its conditions and effects. Leisure and meaning, two terms for the constitution of a night culture, played by actors, spaces and times. It is, nevertheless, necessary to be careful to not consider that/those culture(s) ad self-centred manifestations, immune to external influence and implications. On the contrary, the night cultures are normally quite visible in their manifestations and consequences and oftentimes resistant to reactions from the exterior. What perspectives are established between the cultures of the night and the reactions of the city? What complementarities, tolerances and divergences emerge? What dialogues are possible? How does one manage the boundary of limits?
In methodological terms, the project is an assessment of the nocturnal leisure activities of young people, exploring the conditions they are based on, the manifestations that characterise them and the consequences they give rise to. It shall be based essentially on a «qualitative» methodology, resorting to a set of information collection techniques, namely:
- Collection of statistical information
- Participant-Observation
- Group interviews
- Individual interviews
Each technique is implemented at specific moments of the research with a view to collecting a particular type of information. Therefore:
The purpose of the collection of statistical information is to identify and characterise the «structural» conditions of the youth situation in the municipality. This information shall enable one to establish the social profiles and weights of the different «young peoples»: students of secondary and higher education, young workers, unemployed or without work, young people of the «periphery», young married people, etc.
The second technique shall always be present while the fieldwork lasts. Indispensable to become acquainted with and draw a map of the spaces, the itineraries, the manifestations of the culture of the night. It shall also permit the observation of the leisure activities in loco and establish bridges for possible interviewees.
The group interview is a privileged form of accessing the representations of the night and the nocturnal leisure activities of young people. The carrying out of six to eight group interviews is foreseen, focusing on the more representative youth categories.
The individual interview shall be the technique that one will resort to more frequently, thus constituting the privileged vehicle of information collection. The use of the technique shall be applied to two universes of actors. On the one hand, to the «representatives» of the city (public powers and civilian structures), with a view to identifying and characterising the reactions of the «city» to the youth culture of the night. On the other hand, to the young people that live at night so as to gather information about the itineraries and nocturnal leisure activities. The main idea is to capture the diversity of nocturnal cultures and their underlying logics.
