The Flaneur (RLE Social Theory) (Paperback)

Timely and original, this collection of essays from the leading figures in their fields throws new and valuable light on the significance and future of flanerie. The flaneur is usually identified as the 'man of the crowd' of Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Baudelaire, and as one of the heroes of Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project. The flaneur's activities of strolling and loitering are mentioned increasingly frequently in sociology, cultural studies and art history, but rarely is the debate developed further. The Flaneur is the first book to develop the debate beyond Baudelaire and Benjamin, and to push it in unexpected and exciting directions.