Affected in the nightclub. A case study of regular clubbers’ conflictual practices in nightclubs

Abstract

The nightclub as a space is presented as a free and hedonistic place for pleasure. This space is also part of a wider socio-spatial-economic framework in which various forms of regulation apply to clubbers and the cultivation of affects. This paper researches marginal and contested forms of experiences within a club as a way of understanding the complexities of pleasure. The study does so by addressing experiences through the concept of affects, which is situated within a framework of a non-representational theory of space. Anxiety, pride, anger, shame and embarrassment are embodied simultaneously with the affects of love, joy, sympathy and so on. Alcohol, illicit drugs, bouncers, music and other human or non-human actants are part of the place. It is within this heterogeneous assemblage that affects become embodied. The data consists of 273 cases from a large Copenhagen nightclub where guests have complained about being rejected or being given quarantine. The paper suggests that if the space of the club is approached as being more than a mono-affectual space of either risk or pleasure, then it would be possible to reduce conflicts and produce more inclusive spaces.