PLACES, „NON-PLACES“ AND DRINKING OCCASIONS: SPACIAL AND SITUATIONAL ASPECTS OF YOUTH DRINKING CULTURE IN BELGRADE

Abstract

Adopting the basic proposition that public and private spaces and domains of human interactions are produced through interactions, and thus posed as cultural constructs, in this article I meditate concepts of place and „non-place“ as identity arenas. Firstly, I tackle theoretical framework that has dealt with places and „non-places“ in humanities and social sciences, and then, through analysis of ethnographic material, I offer explanations of spacial and situational aspects of youth drinking practices in Belgrade: parks as parts of public city sphere, at-home parties as parts of private sphere, non-formal and weekend going-outs. Informal interviews and participant observation as methodological tools showed that young people tend to transform „non-places“ into significant identity arenas that corelate with drinking occasions, and that common signifier, which links place and occasion, is produced through sentience of conviviality.