Regimes of Visibility: Hanging Out in Brussels’ Public Spaces

Abstract

Visibility is an important characteristic of public space. According to Brighenti, control and recognition can be understood as two opposing outcomes of visibility. These two modes are studied empirically through the use of data from a research project with young people in Brussels. This article zooms in on young people’s appropriation of a space for themselves and their negotiation of control and investigates what role (in)visibility plays in the micropolitics of these practices. It concludes that these regimes of visibility can be easily found in young people’s behavior in public space. However, they are not mutually exclusive: They easily transform into the other or present themselves simultaneously.