
Series
Volume 5
Lifeworlds: Knowledges, Politics, Histories
See Related
Anthropology JournalsEmail Newsletters
Sign up for our email newsletters to get customized updates on new Berghahn publications.
Boaters of London
Alternative Living on the Water
Benjamin O.L. Bowles
302 pages, 9 ills., bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-80539-494-5 $135.00/£99.00 / Hb / Not Yet Published (May 2024)
eISBN 978-1-80539-495-2 eBook Not Yet Published
Reviews
“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
Description
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.
Ben Bowles is Lecturer in Social Anthropology at SOAS, University of London. He is also Course Lecturer at Fordham University, London Campus and Research Fellow at the Open University's Centre for Policing Research and Learning.