Metropolitan Intimacies

Francisco Cruces is professor of anthropology at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED).

Francisco Cruces takes us on a fascinating journey through urban life, in which new forms of intimacy develop, breaking down the traditional polarization of private and public. The rich ethnography—an innovative poetic of daily life—explores the entanglements of seemingly trivial details: body movements, surfacing memories, passing moods, cherished routines. Cruces asks: how is intimacy produced and narrated, as an ambivalent theme in city life? This is a ground-breaking book for understanding the mysteries of everyday life and as well as the role of intimacy in the new regime of urbanity.

• Introduction: Something Too Good to Be FakeChapter 1. Getting InspiredChapter 2. Exploring IntimacyChapter 3. Stories of The SelfChapter 4. A Visit to IKEAChapter 5. The Poetics of DwellingConclusion: From Collaboration to Remembrance