Ett mellanrum i staden : En antropologisk observationsstudie av tunnelbanan som liminalt rum och icke-plats

Sammanfattning: The aim of this essay is to study patterns in peoples behaviour in the subway. I analyse the subway as a liminal space and a non-place. Through ethnographic observations in the subway in Stockholm, and with the use of sensory autoethnography and rhythm analysis, I have gathered my data. I argue that there are two things that make the subway a liminal space and a non-place: the physical design of the room, and the norms that the people on the subway create and maintain. By analysing the rhythms of the subway I show that people sustain a collective rhythmic order by adapting and coordinating their behaviour. It is physically a neutral room and does not provide anything to do other than to sit or stand and wait. It is an in-between-space that people only pass through. With the use of technology, such as mobile phones and headphones, passengers can mentally disengage from the subway. The norm of the subway is to be indifferent towards each other and towards the space. By complying with these rules, passengers create a specific sort of community, an anti-communitas. Sellers, beggars and can collectors break these rules by interacting with the surroundings and by not utilising the subway as a space for transit. By using it as a place, they are using it incorrectly. The subway is a peculiar space with specific norms that, when followed, create a liminal space and a non-place.