LXNIGHTS proposes the creation of two Observatories of the Nightlife Industry

Complete Technical Document: Proposal for the Creation of the National Observatory of the Nightlife Industry in Spain (proposal sent on March 10 to the Secretariat of Tourism of the Government of Spain)

Complete Technical Document: Proposal for the Creation of the Observatory of the Nightlife Industry in Barcelona (proposal sent on April 25th to the Barcelona City Council).

These are two proposals whose conception, design and drafting I have coordinated, with the participation of Manuel García Ruiz , coordinator of the International Night Studies Network and the collaboration of Joaquim Boadas de Quintana , General Secretary of the nightlife employers hashtag#SpainNightlife and Fecasarm (in Catalonia).

The idea is the same: to develop and implement an automated and periodically updated system for the extraction, collection, compilation, analysis and publication of statistical data (also under web GIS visualization) and qualitative data, and the creation and monitoring of indicators on the nightlife industry. Under rigorous scalability and replicability criteria, the architecture of the proposal as well as the nature of the statistical information sources can be adapted to local, regional or national scales.

These proposals have been rejected for public funding both by the Secretariat of Tourism (to mention the extraordinary kindness with which we were dealt with) and by the Commissioner of the Night of the Barcelona City Council (also with a kindness rare in local areas in this corner of the Iberian Peninsula).

Both prosals are derived from the original article in vol. 63, nº 2 of the Spanish Open Access journal “Cuadernos Geográficos”, 2024.

Proposta_ObservatoriOciNocturnBarcelona Propuesta_ObservatorioOcioNocturno_DocumentoTecnico

The Call for Abstracts for the 6th International Conference on Night Studies is now open!!

The conference, which is a partnership between LXNIGHTS Research Group and the International Night Studies Network (INSN), returns to its original format (online) to encourage the participation of our nightologist friends from the Global South as well as exploited researchers working in allegedly prestigious institutions with “ethical values” in the Global North. Follow the International Night Studies Network and check the conference’s website (https://icnslx.com/) in order not to miss any information or key dates of the conference. Huge thanks Manuel García Ruiz for your invaluable work and professionalism in organizing yet another annual edition of our favorite conference :)) 

Abstract deadline is due to April 15, 2025.

Conference dates: 8-10 October 2025

Our ERC Advanced Grant proposal NIGHT-15 , led by our coordinator Dr Jordi Nofre as PI, has been rejected. It’s frustrating but we don’t give up.

 

 

As usual, the European Research Council has rejected NIGHT-15 “Unveiling the potential of the multiple values of nightlife in building the 15-minute city in Europe: A comparative and intersectional approach” [SEP. 211057564], an ERC Advanced Grant proposal led by our coordinator Dr Jordi Nofre as PI. It’s frustrating but we don’t give up. Bad times for the social and human sciences in Europe; the ERC has selected to finance pro-militarist or even revisionist-nationalist “research” projects (among other projects of dubious scientific rigor).

Our coordinator Dr Jordi Nofre reflects on the need to design the nocturnal 15-minute city

The coordinator of the LXNIGHTS research group opens a new line of research not yet explored and which is crucial for the future of European cities. This short article, which has been published in Urban Geography (2024), is also the origin of further articles and research project proposals, as well as the intervention of our coordinator in the session on “The 15-minute city and the night-time dimension” of the Cities After Dark URBAN ACT network held on 6 December 2024. We hope you like this article and that it inspires you to work on this new line of research!!:))

Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2024.2383522

 

What a terrific couple of years!! LXNIGHTS scientific production 2022-2023

In these two years we have continued to obtain negative evaluations of the research projects submitted both at national (FCT) and European level (COST Actions). But even so, we continue to work on what we like the most: the night.

  • Nofre, J. & Garcia-Ruiz, M. (2023). Nightlife Studies: Past, present and future. DanceCult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, 15(1): 93-112. https://doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2023.15.01.05
  • Nofre, J., Martins, J.C., Garcia-Ruiz, M., & Teixeira Costa, G. (2023). Una aproximación geográfica a los impactos de la turistificación del ocio nocturno en el barrio de Cais do Sodré, Lisboa. Estudios Geográficos, 84 (294), e129. https://doi.org/10.3989/estgeogr.2023135.135
  • Nofre, J., Garcia-Ruiz, M., & Martins, J. C. (2023). The Biosecuritization of the Tourist City: Some Reflections from and about Lisbon Nightlife. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 22(2), 992–1014. https://doi.org/10.7202/1100524ar
  • Nofre, J. (2023). Nightlife as source of social wellbeing, community-building and psychological mutual support after COVID-19 pandemic. Annals of Leisure Research, 26(4), 505-513. https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2021.1964991
  • Nofre, J., Garcia-Ruiz, M. & Martins, J. C. (2023). “Demonizing the Nightlife: The ‘Pandemic Panic’ and Youth Responses in Portugal and Spain.” In M. Ryan (Ed.)., COVID-19: Pandemic pitfalls and possibilities, pp. 91-104 London: Routledge.
  • Nofre, J. & Garcia-Ruiz, M. (2023). The urban ecological transition and the future of Europe’s nightlife industry. World Leisure Journal, 65(3), 327-342. https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2022.2162112
  • Nofre, J., Martins, J. C., Garcia-Ruiz, M. & Teixeira Costa, G. (2022). Cuando la turistificación mató ‘la noche’ de Cais do Sodré (Lisboa) [When touristification killed ‘the night’ of Cais do Sodré (Lisbon)]. Ábaco – Revista de cultura y ciencias sociales, 112-113: 82-91. Available at: https://revista-abaco.es/abaco-112-113-event-places-espacios-de-ocio-y-lugares-memorables/
  • Teixeira Costa, G., Raposo, O., Martins, J. C., Garcia-Ruiz, M. & Nofre, J. (2022). Lazer noturno e resistências juvenis em tempos de (pós)pandemia: O caso dos jovens do Bar Antù em Lisboa [Nightlife and youth resistance in times of the (post)pandemic: The case of young people at Bar Antù in Lisbon]. Antropolítica – Revista Contemporânea de Antropologia, 54(3): 118-142. https://periodicos.uff.br/antropolitica/article/view/54935/33206
  • Nofre, J. (2022). Desafiando as noites de exclusão social: A diversão noturna como mecanismo innovador para a construção de comunidades mais inclusivas e sustentáveis [Challenging the nights of social exclusion: Nightlife as an innovative mechanism for building more inclusive and sustainable communities]. In Cardoso, A. D. & Vaz, D. (eds.)., Cidades, escalas e transações, pp. 168-192. Famalicão, Portugal:  Edições Húmus.

Looking forward to the outcome of the evaluation of our COST Action proposal “Next Generation Nights in Europe”

Next Generations Nights in Europe is a COST Action proposal coordinated by Jordi Nofre (NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal). The Action aims to examine how our European nightlife industry should be in the future, and, crucially, how it can contribute to promoting and achieving the goals defined by the recently-launched The New European Bauhaus Initiative .In this sense, the Action’s objectives are (i) Advancing the theoretical and conceptual framework of nightlife studies; (ii) Collaborative design of innovative methodologies and new analytical tools; and (iii) Raising awareness and dissemination of more inclusive, egalitarian, resilient, and sustainable nightlife. By mobilizing so-called Quadruple Helix Stakeholder Engagement Strategy, Next Generation Nights in Europe will bring together nightlife industry stakeholders, local communities, cultural associations, and academic researchers to generate (i) top-quality research outputs of high impact; (ii) valuable stakeholders-oriented outputs; (iii) innovative policy-oriented knowledge; and (iv) community agency actions towards the promotion of more inclusive, egalitarian, resilient, sustainable, and competitive nightlife industry in Europe. At scientific level, the Action will develop a new research agenda in the emerging interdisciplinary subfield of ‘Nightlife Studies’. At industry level, the Action intends to strengthen the capacity of the nightlife industry to align with the goals defined by the recently-launched The New Bauhaus Initiative, and to enhance and foster new technical skills to design and implement successful resilience strategies. Finally, at policy and community levels, the Action will provide crucial insights to making the nightlife industry more competitive and a privileged place of creativity and social innovation.

Hope we will soon have further news on the final evaluation of the proposal!!

 

Three new publications: The best way to end the year 2022 and start 2023

 

The LXNIGHTS team continues to publish the results of both our amazing research on Lisbon’s nightlife,  and and also opening up new lines of research. Further publications will follow in the coming months. Stay tuned!

  1. Nofre, J., Garcia-Ruiz, M. & Martins, J. C. (2023). “Demonizing the Nightlife: The ‘Pandemic Panic’ and Youth Responses in Portugal and Spain.” In M. Ryan (Ed.)., COVID-19: Pandemic pitfalls and possibilities, pp. 91-104 London: Routledge.

  1. Nofre, J. & Garcia-Ruiz, M. The urban ecological transition and the future of Europe’s nightlife industry. World Leisure Journal, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2022.2162112

  1. Nofre, J., Martins, J. C., Garcia-Ruiz, M. & Teixeira Costa, G. “Cuando la turistificación mató ‘la noche’ de Cais do Sodré (Lisboa)”. Ábaco – Revista de cultura y ciencias sociales, 112-113: 82-91.

  1. Teixeira Costa, G., Raposo, O., Martins, J. C., Garcia-Ruiz, M. & Nofre, J. (2022). Lazer noturno e resistências juvenis em tempos de (pós)pandemia: O caso dos jovens do Bar Antù em Lisboa. Antropolítica – Revista Contemporânea de Antropologia, 54(3): 118-142. https://periodicos.uff.br/antropolitica/article/view/54935/33206

The new official LXNIGHTS site is here: Welcome!

The migration of the www.lxnights.pt server led to the loss of the website. To give us more stability, we have decided to reactivate our Hypotheses.org blog. This marks the beginning of a new era in the dissemination of our activity with the aim of reinforcing our strategy of transfer knowledge, establishing new arenas of public debate and empowering local communities for safer, more inclusive, egalitarian, ecological and competitive nights.

New publication on the liminal nightlife governance in Lisbon

LXNIGHTS launches a new publication!! :))) This is a new publication based on an ongoing ethnography started in 2010 in the old harbor neighborhood of Cais do Sodré, in downtown Lisbon. This article aims to analyze how the neoliberalization of the night in Lisbon has led to the emergence of some critical challenges for the governance of the “Nocturnal Tourist CIty”.

Full Reference: Nofre, J. (2020). Geografias da governança liminar da noite lisboeta. In Remoaldo, P. C., Caldeira, M. J., Teles, V., Scalabrini, E. & Rio Fernandes, J. A. (Eds), Livro de Actas do XII Congresso da Geografia Portuguesa “Geografias de Transição para a Sustentabilidade”, pp. 290-297. Guimaraes, Portugal: Universidade do Minho. ISBN: 978-989-98857

Paper_Nofre_XIICongGeoPT

 

 

 

 

 

 

A vida nocturna, uma prioridade de Estado em tempos de pós-pandemia

Sendo a vida nocturna central na indústria do turismo em Lisboa, é precisamente neste ponto que surge a grande preocupação partilhada entre diferentes actores da noite lisboeta: Pode o sector do lazer nocturno sobreviver aos efeitos económicos da pandemia sem uma política pública dedicada ao sector

Para ler o Artigo completo: https://www.publico.pt/2020/04/25/p3/cronica/vida-nocturna-prioridade-estado-tempos-pospandemia-1913716

Call For Book Chapters – “The production of urban ambiances for tourist consumption in the contemporary city”

Call for chapters for an edited volume to be submitted to Routledge’s Ambiences and Atmospheres Series or Routledge Advances in Tourism and Anthropology Series

Editors: Iñigo Sánchez (Universidade Nova de Lisboa); Daniel Malet-Calvo (ISCTE, University Institute of Lisbon); Daniel Paiva (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

This book seeks to analyze the impact of tourism on the urban environment, focusing on the concept of “ambiance” as a tool to explore the physical regeneration and sensory transformation of contemporary touristic places.

Tourism-led urban regeneration initiatives have proliferated in cities across the globe, in what some authors call a process of touristification (Sequera and Nofre, 2018). The production of urban ambiances that cater to the tourists’ desire to experience the life and culture of the city has been a significant part of this process. Some authors have noted that the transformation of historic neighborhoods into thematic parks for tourism consumption, which often imply the loss of local population, along with traditional modes of social behavior and vernacular cultural practices, are some of the negative consequences of tourism, which are often expressed in the public discourse making reference to the loss of the “authenticity” and “real feel” of urban places (Zukin 2010).

In this book, we promote a critical approach to urban ambiances to question the touristified city. How do tourism and city development affect the lived ambiances in the urban context? How do sensory experiences participate in creating particular urban ambiances and places for tourist consumption? What is the role of atmospheric production in relation to the physical regeneration and marketing of contemporary touristic places? Which social actors participate globally and locally in the everyday (re)production and consumption of these ambiances of tourism?

We invite papers that explore a variety of different approaches, questions and methodologies to study the production of urban ambiances for tourist consumption in the contemporary city, including, but not limited to:

– The role of the senses in the production of ambiances for tourist consumption
– Sensory and atmospheric design in touristified shops, markets, or public space
– The experience economy in tourism spaces
– Everyday perceptions of tourism-led urban transformation
– Exclusions, marginality, and contestations of touristified ambiances
– Public debates on the authenticity/inauthenticity of the ambiances of tourism
– The role of identity and the past in the production of ambiances for tourist consumption
– Creativity and the arts in the production of ambiances for tourist consumption

We intend this collection to bring together a diverse group of scholars and case studies to present a global perspective on the production of urban ambiances for tourist consumption in urban settings. We welcome contributions from across the globe which work with ambiances from different perspectives.

The volume will be composed of 8000-word chapters (including footnotes and references), an Introduction by the editors and an Afterword.

– Deadline for submission of abstracts (300-400 words) and bionotes (100 words): 15 March 2020
– Notification of acceptance: 31 March 2020
– Book manuscript submission: 31 April 2020
– Book contracted: September 2020
– First Book chapter draft: 31 December 2020
– Book manuscript submission: March 2021

Initial expressions of interest, enquiries and/or abstracts should be submitted to editors Iñigo Sánchez (isanchez@fcsh.unl.pt), Daniel Paiva (daniel.paiva@campus.ul.pt) and Daniel Malet Calvo (Daniel.Malet@iscte-iul.pt)

LISBON NIGHTLIFE COMMISSION: Documento Técnico em Aberto

Após dois anos, continuamos sem resposta da CML sobre a nossa propos de  iniciativa municipal para uma governança participativa da noite lisboeta “Lisbon Nightlife Commission”. Nesse sentido, a coordenação do lxnights decidiu disponibilizar em aberto o documento técnico para avançar através da autoorganização dos diferentes actores locais (residentes, comerciantes e organizações sociais).

LisbonNightlifeCommission

 

1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ‘NIGHT STUDIES’, 2-3 July 2020, Lisbon

The 1st International Conference on Night Studies is an international event that aims to echo frontier research, artistic works and professional practices related to the study of the urban night in multiple contexts around the world.

This event aims to be a platform for sharing ongoing or recent research, open a critical and interdisciplinary debate, and boost networking, bringing together academia and society.

ICNS.LX will be held in Lisbon on July 2nd and 3rd, 2020 at ISCTE-IUL.

In parallel with the conference sessions, there will be field excursions, and other activities related to the night in the Portuguese capital.

Deadline for submissions: January 27th, 2020

https://icnslx.wordpress.com/

The Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present and Future

Royal Anthropological Institute and Royal Geographical Society
4th – 7th June 2020,  British Museum/SOAS/Royal Geographical Society, London, UK.

PANEL TITLE
A Right to Light, A Right to Darkness? (IN08)

PANEL ORGANISERS
Dr Robert Shaw, Newcastle University, UK

Dr Mikkel Bille, Roskilde University, Denmark

ABSTRACT
Anthropologists and geographers have been among the scholars from multiple disciplines who have turned towards the study of everyday human interactions with natural light, artificial light and darkness. Researchers increasingly conceive of these as relational phenomena, the understanding of which cannot be separated. What has emerged from this research is a contradictory picture of trends of both increasing artificial light in some places, but increasing darkness and lack of access to light in other places. In this session we are interested in exploring how access to both light and darkness is changing across different socio-economic, cultural and political contexts. If there was a ‘right to light’ or a ‘right to darkness’, what would they look like and what would they protect? Do they conflict with each other? Are these rights under threat differently in urban and rural areas? How are technological and infrastructural changes, including but not limited to ‘smart’ technologies, shaping them? How is human access to both light and darkness interfering with non-human access? This session contains both conceptual and empirical explorations of this topic, exploring multiple dimensions of access (or lack of access) to natural light, artificial light or darkness

SUBMIT PAPERS HERE

Deadline for paper submissions 8th January 2020. You will be informed as to whether your paper is accepted by 20th January 2020.

Please get in touch with Rob (Robert.shaw2@ncl.ac.uk) or Mikkel (mikkelbille@ruc.dk) if you’re interested in submitting a paper, or have any further questions.