The unacceptable Flaneur - The shopping mall as a teenage hangout

This article considers the importance of the shopping mall to a group of yo ung people living in the East Midlands of the UK. It shows that for many yo ung people the mall provides a convenient place for hanging out, Yet their occupancy of this setting is not unproblematic. Many adults, for example, p erceive the public and visible presence of young people as uncomfortable an d inappropriate. Despite constant attempts to move them on, however, young people stubbornly remain within the mall asserting a right of presence. In order to (re)interpret these behaviours (both that of teenager and adult), the study draws upon the new literature of the cultural politics of differe nce and identity. It suggests that through their various attempts assert a right of presence, young people assume the mantle of the hybrid. Here, youn g people are no longer child, nor quite adult. By locating themselves in se ttings that transgress and so question the spatial hegemony of adulthood, y oung people journey into the interstitial territory of 'thirdspace'. From t his perspective the mall assumes a cultural importance over and above its f unctional form.