The Argentine Beach as Workspace: Temporalities, Materialities, and Social Entanglements

Abstract

In this article, I show that the beach is more than its physical space and the legislation. I argue that the beach is an interrelation between physical space and people’s actions while interacting with the space. I discuss the fact that beaches are physical and social and change over the year. Furthermore, the beach has a liminal site within the urban space. In this article, I focus on one of the actors constituting the beach: the street vendors. The view from this group becomes central to understanding the beach as a multiple social space. A look at vendors also allows for the understanding of how open spaces are negotiated and disputed. The article also focuses on the Beach as a collaborative space between actors and materiality and how the legislation is used situationally.