Alongside Mia Rafalowicz-Campbell, I presented a paper at the international ICNS.LX conference, originally due to be hosted in Lisbon, but moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The abstract of our talk is below, and you can watch our presentation on YouTube (from 26:10).

Paper abstract:

In 2017-18, MSc Urban Studies students at University College London (UCL) took part in a year-long thematic engagement with the ‘urban night’. In the context of increased policy activity in London, from the appointment of a Night Czar and the introduction of a Night Tube service, alongside fervent media interest in the increase of rough sleeping and closures to nightlife venues (Campkin and Marshall, 2016), the student-produced work pointed to gaps in existing literature and policy, suggesting an urgent requirement for an expanded field of research in urban night studies.
 
Critical analysis of the policy shift to 24-hour cities is vital given the limited attention that has been paid to the disproportionately low-income, precarious night-time labour force, many of whom are people of colour and/or of recent migrant backgrounds (Greater London Authority [GLA], 2018). Whilst a third of everyone working in London works at night, almost double the number of night workers earn below the London Living Wage compared to their daytime equivalents (Robin, 2019), putting into question the reach of policy and enforcement ‘after hours’, whilst contributing to continued, systemic legacies of economic marginalisation. Similarly, the effect of a decade of austerity, particularly in the UK’s public sector, on conditions for a growing night-time economy, need to be examined.
 
This paper considers the multi-disciplinary and methodologically diverse approaches taken by the course’s students, as reflective of the required approach to this expanding field of study. We will share a selection of the produced work, ranging from a proposal for a roaming night-time civic space, a cookbook featuring the stories and recipes of London’s night workers, and a collective response to the GLA’s Night Time Commission consultation. We reflect on the space for this work and future student-led engagements in participatory, practice and policy-orientated night studies. Who are the future students and scholars of this field, in what ways will they work, and what are the pressing questions they will seek to address in the gaps found in existing disciplinary knowledge and policy initiative?

Recording:

Find out more about the event: icnslx.com/icns-lx-2020/