Caution, control and consumption: defining acceptable conduct in the semi-public space of Czech shopping malls
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| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | This chapter focuses on the problem of acceptable conduct in shopping malls, which, in Czech cities, are taking over some functions of traditional public space. It uncovers specific ways by which mall space is policed and regulated, the guiding principles behind these ways and the resulting definitions of acceptable conduct in these spaces. It does so by studying the hitherto-understudied post-socialist experience of the Czech Republic, a country that recently has undergone a massive expansion of shopping malls. A survey of house rules, a set of interviews and analyses of documents are employed to illustrate the complex nature of policing in Czech malls. It is shown that these spaces actively present themselves as different from the city public spaces which are increasingly portrayed as places of discomfort and danger. Against this, malls present themselves as safe, family-friendly and predictable spaces, where all sources of unpredictability and discomfort are suppressed. |
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