Urban Scenes as Community Practices

Abstract

In this chapter, a new praxeological, relational and cultural approach to the analysis of communal phenomena in contemporary cities is developed and discussed. The chapter begins with a presentation of theories which are two pillars of the approach: the theory of scenes developed by the new Chicago school (Silver and Clark, Scenescapes, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2016) and the social practice theory (in particular social ontology and model of practice developed by Theodor Schatzki [1996, 2002]). Then, a concept of urban community as a nexus of cultural and aesthetic practices embedded in the scene as well as a concept of socio-cultural opportunity structure is developed, providing an explanation of the scene mechanisms in community building processes. The chapter provides also a typology of communal practices.