How language differences are bridged in public-space social interactions

Drawing on an ethnographic study in the London Borough of Hackney, Susanne Wessendorf explains how language differences are skilfully bridged in public-space social interactions, for example at markets or in shops. This new IRiS Working Paper (n.9) shows how language differentially influences the kinds of social relations people form when it comes to more intimate social relations, and how knowledge of English as well as cultural capital shape the way in which both long-term residents and newcomers form such closer social relations.