Contesting city safety - exploring (un)safety and objects of risk from multiple viewpoints

Abstract

The aim of this article is to engage theoretically with city safety and fear by combining insights from intersectional theories of risk with poststructuralist theories of emotion. We argue that the performative feelings of fear and safety need to be disentangled from hegemonic discourses in order to illuminate who the imagined subjects are that comprise the so-called ‘everyone’ for whom safety agents intend to create safe cities. Our analysis is based on group and individual interviews with a total of 39 informants, including police officers, municipal safety agents, university students, LGBTQ community members, immigrants, wheelchair users, elders and alcohol users. The results show how current norms and risks are linked, and why they must always be understood within the framework of existing power structures.