Flaneur

The flaneur is usually identified as the `man of the crowd' of Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Baudelaire, and as one of the heroes of Walter Benjamin's Arcades project. The flaneur's activities of strolling and loitering are mentioned increasingly frequently in sociology, cultural studies and art history, but rarely is the debate developed further. The Flaneur is a series of original essays, each providing new and exciting histories of the origins of the flaneur and flanerie and each written by a leading figure in the field. The book raises such questions as: `Do we have to wald the streets to indulge in flanerie?', `How is the city a gendered space?' and `How might flanerie be possible from the safety of dining tables?' Important light is cast on the significance and future of flanerie, and questions are raised about the current status of sociological and cultural studies.