Alone Together

In Alone Together: Social Order on an Urban Beach, the focus is on the social dynamics and unwritten rules governing interactions at Southland Beach, a popular, urban Southern California beach. With millions of visitors each year, Southland Beach draws a diverse crowd, including locals, tourists, and people from various socio-economic backgrounds, all converging in close quarters. Despite the potential for conflict due to its dense and varied population, the beach generally remains a peaceful and enjoyable place. The study explores how beachgoers navigate personal space, behavior expectations, and the presence of authority figures like lifeguards and police, often creating an unspoken order among themselves.

Southland Beach has evolved from a space primarily frequented by "beach people"—locals with a deep connection to the beach—to an urban attraction visited by millions. The research examines how strangers from different backgrounds manage to coexist in a shared space where typical urban concerns, like distrust and social fragmentation, could easily lead to conflict. The study explores whether the beach can maintain its reputation as a haven for relaxation and leisure, given its transformation into a microcosm of city life with all its potential challenges. Factors like limited clothing, proximity, and occasional substance use could introduce tension, yet a unique, often implicit social structure keeps interactions largely harmonious.

The book aims to analyze this balance between enjoyment and potential disorder, questioning how a community of strangers can coexist so closely without formalized rules. The study applies insights from sociology and anthropology to understand the beachgoers’ shared practices, revealing how informal norms and individual expectations of behavior contribute to a functional, if fragile, social order. Through observation and interviews, the research delves into the varying roles of lifeguards, police, and beachgoers themselves in shaping and maintaining this social environment, illuminating the intricate yet resilient order that defines life on Southland Beach.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1979.