Conclusion

Abstract

This vignette captures the kinds of social relations among people living in Hackney which I have discussed in the chapters of this book. Three groups of people hold a party in a park and create their own ‘private space bubbles’ (Lofland, 1998:12). They gather together on the basis of various commonalities ranging from shared social class background to nationality, religion, age, interests and lifestyles. Although the groups occupy separate social and physical spaces, there are moments of interaction and sociable exchange between members of the groups by way of conversations, the exchange of food, entertainment for the children and minor medical help. These ‘gestures of recognition’ (Wise, 2005:12) across difference form part of the everyday civility which I observed during my fieldwork on a daily basis. Although in the park there were no attempts to make any further contact with the members of the other groups, there was a general acceptance of each other and of sharing a space which got increasingly crowded as the afternoon went on. While the tattooists’ music interfered with the Polish folk songs next to them, and the children’s rubber balls, which they had received in their party bags, repeatedly flew into the tattooists’ party and sometimes almost knocked over their drinks, no one got angry. Rather, everybody accepted the spilling over and mingling of noise and play.

We’re at the birthday party of a three-year-old friend of my daughter. It takes place on a sunny Sunday afternoon by the bandstand of a local park. The bandstand seems to be a popular place to gather with friends, and, as the afternoon goes on, other groups of people meet next to our group. We are a group of white middle-class people in their 30s and 40s with their children, British apart from my husband and me. Next to us is another birthday party, and although it started a few metres away from us, the group gets bigger and bigger and eventually our and their group sit right next to each other. They are a group of white people in their late 20s to early 40s, many of them covered with tattoos and piercings in the style of goth/ vintage/fetish. Right next to them is a group of Polish people which is growing as the afternoon goes on. They stand together in a circle, pray and sing, and later on they do folk dances. My daughter is curious about their party and especially their extensive buffet of cookies and cakes displayed on a picnic blanket. When they start dancing folk dances, we go over and watch them dance. My daughter’s eyes are, however, on the display of sweets, and at some point one of the Polish women offers her a biscuit. I ask her where she is from and compliment her on the food and the dancing. She tells me about her Polish background and the traditional Polish food on the blanket. My daughter and I happily drift back to our birthday party, sweets in hand. A little later, a new guest arrives at the adjoining party of tattoo and piercing fans. She has brought her pet, a python, wrapped around her neck. My daughter and her friends stare at the snake, and when the woman realizes, she comes over to show it to them. She explains all about what the snake eats (a mouse every three weeks or so) and shows them how to stroke it. The children are very excited about the exotic creature at their party. Once they have all had a go at stroking the snake, the woman goes back to her own party. Later on, a new tattoo guest arrives. He has just fallen off his bike and injured his leg. One of the children’s party guests offers him some disinfectant which he happily accepts, before settling down with a beer and celebrating his friend’s birthday.

(Research Diary, 11 June 2013)