The Hidden Face of Order: Reflections on Night and Nocturnality in Urban and Labour Imaginaries
(Papers will be presented in Spanish)

A call for individual papers has been announced for the symposium “La cara oculta del orden: reflexiones sobre la noche y la nocturnidad en los imaginarios urbanos y laborales”, which will take place as part of the VIII Mexican Congress of Social Anthropology and Ethnology (COMASE).
The symposium invites contributions that critically examine the social, cultural and labour dimensions of the night, with particular attention to how nocturnal imaginaries shape urban life, social practices and forms of work. From an anthropological and interdisciplinary perspective, the panel aims to explore how nocturnality structures urban experiences, power relations, social regulation and cultural representations.
Although often associated with leisure, rest or marginality, the night also constitutes a space of production, surveillance, care and sociability, where tensions between order and transgression, visibility and invisibility, regulation and creativity become especially visible.
The symposium welcomes papers addressing topics such as:
- social imaginaries of the night in urban contexts
- nocturnal labour practices and night-time economies
- governance, regulation and control of the night
- cultural and symbolic experiences of nocturnality
- informal work and labour temporalities at night
- urban policies and social order in nocturnal settings
Please note that presentations in the symposium will be conducted in Spanish.
Key dates
Abstract submission deadline:
25 March 2026
Conference dates:
15–18 June 2026
Venue:
Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico
The symposium forms part of the VIII Congreso Mexicano de Antropología Social y Etnología, an important academic gathering that brings together researchers working across anthropology, sociology and related fields.
Researchers interested in contributing are encouraged to submit their proposals before the deadline.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Manuel Garcia-Ruiz (March 8, 2026). The Hidden Face of Order: Reflections on Night and Nocturnality in Urban and Labour Imaginaries. International Night Studies Network. Retrieved April 19, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/15tx1
