Regulating the Night : Race, Culture and Exclusion in the Making of the Night-time Economy

There is currently much concern about the relationship between crime, deviance and urban space.

These relate to perceived connections between nightlife and gun cultures, alcohol consumption, disorder and incivilities, serious crime and corruption, and the role of health and safety practices in the management of public space.

However, there seems to have been little consideration of the social benefits of a diverse urban nightlife.

Based on an empirical study of South London, this book examines the unwitting consequences of local decision- and law-making and highlights the processes and impacts of exclusion, questioning the extent to which licensing practices restrict cultural diversity and whether current licensing policy actually fuels alcohol consumption.

It shows how cultural, economic and strategic changes have served to differentiate between 'acceptable' and unacceptable' cultures and, by a variety of processes, exclude those deemed an unacceptable social order 'risk'.