Territorial groups weaponize breached politeness rules to repel outsiders
Evidence
The indigenous population of the Hangout defended its territory by “bending, abridging and breaking the interaction rules of polite society” (Cavan, 1963 :21). Any stranger entering the bar became the focus of attention, the object of public comment, the butt of repeated jokes. His masculinity was questioned, his female companion (if any) was insulted. While such defensive measures did not completely restrict outsider access (which would not have been tolerated by the owner), it most certainly did succeed in limiting it. Having undergone such an experience on one occasion, many persons probably chose never to return. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 767
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s thesis: civil inattention is the default mode of urban public space, and here the Hangout’s in-group weaponizes its deliberate negation — attention instead of inattention — to mark outsiders and drive them off.
- SEED: A counterpoint to civil inattention: deliberate, aggressive attention as territorial defense — could frame an essay on when urban anonymity is refused rather than endured.