Sidewalk Stories: Sites of Encounter and Coexistence

• Author: Shauna Van Praagh
• Pages: 205-223

205

Chapter 7

Sidewalk Stories: Sites of Encounter and

Coexistence

Shauna Van Praagh

A. Introduction: The Sidewalk Moment

Imagine a sidewalk in a major cosmopolitan Canadian city. As

you walk along, with your list of errands in hand, you see some-

one heading towards you. You do not know the person, you know

nothing of where she comes from or where she is going, and she

does not know you. You step to the right, as does she, and you

pass each other — having avoided eye contact and collision. You

have shared the sidewalk, you have acknowledged each other,

you have followed well-known norms of conduct, and nothing

about your purpose, direction, or trajectory has been affected by

the moment of encounter. This is coexistence in the absence of

conlict, controversy, or even conversation.

We have all had sidewalk moments like this. And yet, of

course, some sidewalk moments do not share these simple

characteristics. Sometimes we do indeed notice each other in

more detail, perhaps assisted by a particularly curious and out-

spoken child. Sometimes we both move in the same direction at

the same time, and are forced into an awkward readjustment in

order to avoid bumping into each other. Perhaps it is an encoun-

ter of two runners in a city park who share a “good morning” as

they move past each other. Perhaps it is a sidewalk moment in

a city or neighbourhood you do not know, turned into a lesson

on local customary behaviour. Perhaps the other person signals,

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implicitly or explicitly, a preference that you walk in the road

   

dress, or her iPod-created obliviousness, or her inability to control

her dog on a leash. In all of these examples, there is more than

silent coexistence. The risks of collision and competition for the

space are present; so are the potential promises of conversation

and concern.

Confronted by the range of possible sidewalk encounters and

their particular dynamics — shaped by the identities of the side-

walk users, the nature and norms of the neighbourhood, and the

character of the sidewalk itself — we might imagine various ways

to govern the coexistence of sidewalk users. We might focus on

    



ways to communicate or teach norms of conduct such that con-

troversy is avoided. We might also observe the encounters and

collect stories in order to construct a narrative or conversation

surrounding sidewalk moments.

These possible responses, and the models of governance they

       



declare a winner — or at least to provide a process such that the

declaration in any particular case is accepted. Charters or codes

are obvious structures for grounding the principles relevant to



-

cesses and policies emphasize the need for effective forums and

tools for anticipating and resolving competition.

These are all sites that typically provide the kind of “frame-

work” referred to in the name of the 2010 policy dialogue or-

ganized by the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the York

Centre for Public Policy and Law. In the search for a template

       

rights claims, we might hope to adopt a particular set of interpre-