Siobhan Magee - Ostrava and Krakow Research Draft

Introduction
The actions and appearance of a passenger on a tram often mark them out as either an ‘insider’ or an ‘outsider’. This distinction is central to the idea of ‘ethnicity in the city’ because ‘ethnicity’ and ‘culture’ are political concepts with the power to be either inclusive or damagingly exclusive. When we think about our travels on trams, or indeed or other forms of public transport in European cities, one of the words that is likely to describe our journeys is ‘busy’- that is, busy with people. This business is also at the heart of what makes the city special- that it contains a great number of people who, despite their close proximity to one another, are strangers with diverse beliefs, backgrounds and lifestyles. In which ways do these people feel a common bond, a sense of community with one another? In which ways to they fear, resent and misunderstand those whom they perceive as ‘different’?

‘Insiders’ and ‘outsiders’?
Ethnicity is based on a feeling of belonging to particular historical or cultural tradition. I predict that the discussions and fieldwork in Ostrava and in Krakow will expose the trickiness of the word ‘ethnicity’. It is a confusing term because it is very similar to ‘culture’. It is also a potentially very dangerous word. Both historically and in the present day, ‘ethnicity’ is brandished as a tool for exclusion, racism, discrimination and genocide. ‘Ethnicity’ is a sensitive and momentous topic. It is impossible to give it a thorough and ethical appraisal in only two days. But I suggest that the Krakow tram works as a snapshot of the ‘insider/outsider’ dichotomy central to ethnicity.
On the one hand, a tram constitutes a group: when we board a particular tram, we join a ‘community’ in a specific place and time. This community is based on the belief that each passenger wants the same thing: to travel. When we travel on such transport, we are expected to act in a very specific way. ‘Insiders’, those ‘in the know’ within a certain social situation know these rules. For example, on a Krakow tram, there might be a tacit agreement between passengers about how much eye-contact it is acceptable to make with a stranger, or how close one should stand to them. Ideas about generation, disability and gender come to the fore with the mundane but heavily political question ‘for whom should I give up my seat?’
But on the other hand, such rules can create ‘outsiders’: migrants and tourists who are not familiar with tacit and written codes of conduct. People unfamiliar with the tram-system, new to the city, might be unsure about how to buy and validate a ticket. Insufficient knowledge of such a system might lead to the double-threat of social embarrassment and accidental illegal behaviour in the form of fare-evasion. Do people help those unfamiliar with such rules, or do they allow them to consolidate their ‘outsider’ identity?

Perceptions of Trust
Trams, along with other forms of public transport, are many citizens’ most frequent point of interaction with state and municipal governments. When people complain of a tram being late, or being dirty, they very often are also either implicitly or explicitly criticizing those in positions of power. In capitalist societies, municipal authorities also serve as mediators between passengers and advertisers. A passenger on a Krakow tram is exposed to countless advertisements for businesses and services: shopping malls, travel agents, hairdressers- the list goes on. Can municipal governments be trusted to mediate between businesses and the tram’s ‘captive audience’ of consumers?
However, a tram passenger is not only compelled to interact with state and municipal authorities, but with other passengers too. If he/she is able to trust these authorities, and indeed the driver of the tram, in which ways does he/she also go about ‘trusting’ fellow passengers? Public transport is quite unique in its requirement that one exist in close proximity with strangers. Which assumptions do passengers make about others when judging who is ‘trustworthy’ and who might be ‘risky?’ How might these be attached to differences in gender, age, social class or nationality?

How might these issues be explored in Krakow, using the practical and heuristic devices of ‘tramlines’?
• Looking at the map of tramlines. The names and locations of tram-stops tell a story about a city. They are often named after a famous person or a significant event.
• Signs, for example prohibitions such as ‘no drinking’. This could use photography or video.
• Advertisements. This could also use photography.
• ‘Ethnicity’ with the axes of other divisions within society. For example, exploring ‘ethnicity and gender’. Other ideas could be ‘ethnicity and age/generation’ or ‘ethnicity and social class and/or wealth’.
• ’24 hours of the tram’- observing a tram around the clock, to see how its atmosphere changes when light fades to dark, and when it passes through different parts of the city, areas perceived as ‘nice’, ‘not so nice’ and even ‘dangerous’.