What we talk about when we talk about 'Walking in the City'

Originally published in France in 1980 ( and translated into English in 1984), Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life has assumed the status of an ur-text for many cultural studies academics and students. In particular, his chapter on 'Walking in the City' is often cited as a blueprint for understanding key terms in the cultural studies repertoire such as 'power' and 'resistance'. This article revisits 'Walking in the City' in order to supplement some of the established understandings of his work circulating in the field of cultural studies, as well as the intersecting fields of cultural geography and urban studies. The paper begins by suggesting ways in which established understandings of Certeau's work might be usefully rethought and extended through a consideration of differentiated instances of walking. Critiquing the account of body-subject relations posited by Certeau through reference to the writings of Marcel Mauss on techniques of the body and self, the author calls, in particular, for a greater consideration of the role of assemblages and affect in understanding everyday urban practices. By the conclusion of the article, the author arrives at a more nuanced understanding of the feedback loop between the body-subject and the city, and suggests ways in which Certeau's writing on walking remains productive for those strains of cultural studies interested in the practices of an increasingly virtualized urban space.