Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
London and the Southeast of England is home to many people and families who live on narrowboats, cruisers and barges, along a network of canals and rivers. Many of these ‘boaters’ move from place to place every two weeks and form itinerant communities in the heart of some of the UK’s most crowded urban spaces. Boaters of London delves into the process of becoming a boater and the political impact of this travelling population on the state, the volume examines an alternative style of living and the potential of a life spent afloat.
“This is a persuasive, evocative and fascinating anthropology of boaters in London. Bowles has presented a complex work of an often-elusive group of people; it is beautifully structured so that the reader can easily follow the arguments and ethnographic details without getting lost.” • Emma Crewe, SOAS, University of London
“It deals with an interesting topic that has not previously been much examined, and in that sense, I think readers will find this book fresh and engaging.” • Veronica Strang, University of Oxford
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1. Methodology and Ethics
Chapter 2. The Waterways: A Historical and Legal Framework
Chapter 3. Becoming a Boater: Developing Skills Within a Community of Practice
Chapter 4. Dwelling and Temporality
Chapter 5. Economic, Livelihood and Consumption
Chapter 6. Community
Chapter 7. ‘A Very English Kind of Anarchism’: Boaters as Citizens Within the State
Chapter 8. Surveillance and Security
Chapter 9. Political (Dis)Organisation
Conclusion: Messing about in Boats
Glossary and Acronyms
References
Index