Nocturnal Anthropologist Going Native

it is no longer the case of early bird that gets the worm,

but the sleepless one

Exiting: finding my way out and back

into diurnal life

Fieldnotes of a nocturnal anthropologist going native

It's Sunday night, and I'm on my way out to the first nightshift at 31. In the living room, my house mates, the two Italian lovers, one Austrian, and one Kiwi friend, are sitting at the table, and about to have dinner. The Kiwi, paid me a visit whilst on her work holiday in Europe. She travelled from France to visit me (and her other London-based friends). I held tight onto my bicycle handlebar as I wished them bon apetit.

As a night worker, I repeatedly had to say NO to socialising with my friends, either to housemates or to my London-based friends whom I knew for over a decade. After seeing this scene, and almost 2 months into my fieldwork, I felt quite acutely the isolation and lack of socialising with other social animals from the life I knew before.

23 February 2015 | 09am | First nightshift at 31 | Costa Coffee | Leyton MIlls Shopping Centre

SLEEPLESSNESS

vs. AWAKENESS

ACTIVITY

84

kg

WEIGHT

74

WEIGHT

km

hrs

SLEEP

iLog3'57"

1'12" - 1'40"

3'09" - 3'47"

(Standing, 2011)

the diurnal journal of a nocturnal anthropologist

REFLECT?

?

analysis

S

is the day, night?

PhD thesis!

write-up...

|

movie

making

t

c

u

DISSEMINATION

is the night, day?

'post-cyrcadian capitalism'

lethargic

?

Solidarity

Competition

?

Fragmentation

confused

?

Precariousness

?

Resistance

Figure 1. Instances breakdown by data source for triangulation

the

night

worker

ZOMBIE

Beaumont (2015)

nd

NOCTURNAL

ANTHROPOLOGIST

AS INSIDER

1. Facing the corporeal aspects of having to be up and working at night.

2. The researcher immersed in performing the phenomenon faces isolation & exhaustion

3. Exiting the period of solid night shifting requires the researcher to readjust to the diurnal rhythms.

Note for the

Novice Researcher

2

METHOD

gathering data technique

|

EPISTEMOLOGY

• Participant // Non-participant Observation
• Observant Participation
• Informal Conversation
• Semi-Structured Interview
• Sensory
• Ethno-graphic vignettes
• Audio

• Constructionism
• Contains the body of theory influencing theoretical perspective

• Participant observer // being fully present and immersed in fieldwork with the respondents and gradually shifting towards
• Observant Participation // ‘see beyond the social front that informants present to strangers in everyday life’

(Moeran, 2007)

my RESEARCH DESIGN

CROTTY (1998)

THEORETICAL

PERSPECTIVE

METHODOLOGY

(Strategy)

• Interpretative

• Symbolic Interactionism

• Ethnography

• Strategy that determines researchers’ intention to use indirect, ‘non-directive’ forms of questioning

• Seeks to uncover meanings and perceptions from the actors’ point of view, against the backdrop of people’s world view or ‘culture’

ANTHROPOLOGICAL

FIELDWORK

guidelines

• Flow and Rhythmic ‘Voice’
• Ditch the ‘fly-on-the-wall’ approach to documentary filmmaking […].

(Werner Herzog, Masterclass, 2016)

stage

RECORDING

TECHNIQUES

it pays off

in the later

stages.

it builds

trust

Disclose your true identity and purpose to respondents from DAY 1.

LORD GUIDE US

GENDER

ALEVI

trade

OWNER

MANAGER

SALES

CASHIER

STOCK OPERATOR

CHECK MAN

DRIVER (forklift)

LOADER

auxiliary

CONSTABULARY

CLEANER

MAINTENANCE

CAFE/DELIVERY

OCCUPATION

ISLAM

CORPORATION OF LONDON

CHRISTIANITY

Market Authority

orthodox

CITY OF LONDON

Smithfield || 1868

(meat)

Billingsgate || 1699

(fish and sea food)

CORPORATION

catholic

BUDDHISM?

TAOISM?

ROMANIA

Spitalfields || 1682 (1920)

TURKEY

SINCE 1991

VISION FOR SPITALFIELDS

TO SUPPORT TENANTS IN CREATING A FLOURISHING MARKET BY PROVIDING AN EXEMPLARY TRADING ENVIRONMENT THAT IS EVERGY EFFICIENT, WELL MAINTAINED, SAFE, INNOVATIVE, PROFITABLE AND REPRESENTS THE DIVERSE ETHNIC MIX OF THE AREA SERVED BY THE MARKET

RELIGION

CoL MARKETs

25K / WK

customers

650K t

150K t

150 types

£1bn / YR

turnover

BANGLADESH

PAKISTAN

INDIA

CHINA

HUNGARY

BULGARIA

BRITAIN

COUNTRY

KURDISH

ROMA

TURKISH

PAKISTANI

BENGALI

INDIAN

CHINESE

Ethnic, gender & occupation descriptives

ETHNICITY

l

By Voichita Judele

Iulius-Cezar Macarie

PLAY

INVISIBLE DENIZENS :

access

restricted

to academic audience

OFFICIAL

12:00 AM

TURKISH

PAKISTANI

BENGALI

INDIAN

CHINESE

BRITISH

REAL

NIGHT SHIFT

STARTS

08:00 PM

MON - FRI

11:00 AM

REAL

09:00 AM

OFFICIAL

BRITISH

REAL vs. OFFICIAL OPERATING HOURS at SPITALFIELDS

SATURDAY

NIGHT SHIFT

FINISHES

01:00 PM

TURKISH

PAKISTANI

BENGALI

INDIAN

CHINESE

CORROSION OF POSSIBILITIES FOR SOLIDARITY AMONGST NIGHT SHIFT WORKERS OF THE NOCTURNAL CITY

THANK YOU!

nightlaboratory

collaborator

macarie_iuus-cezar@phd.ceu.edu

MS-C Actions

bitly/LightSparks

Be.Creat!ve.

Entering the graveyardshift