Flows of Care in ‘Third Places’: The Role of Shore Fishing Spaces in Collective Wellbeing

Abstract

‘Third places,’ accessible public spaces that encourage social interaction and do not represent work or home to their users, contribute to individual and community health and wellbeing. These places, however, are quickly disappearing in the U.S. and beyond due to increasing privatization and commoditization of space. Based on six years of survey and ethnographic data collection in and around Tampa Bay, Florida, we characterize shore fishing spaces – piers, bridges, seawalls, etc. – as third places, important to the wellbeing of fishers, their families, and their communities, but also threatened by enclosure. We draw together literature on the health benefits of third places and social infrastructure with scholarship on infrastructures of care and the agency of “more-than-human” actors to draw attention to flows of care in these spaces. We argue that benefits to wellbeing emerge not just from the social interactions fostered by shared convivial space and activity, but also from the “care labor” performed by other biotic and abiotic elements, such as physical infrastructure and wildlife. Furthermore, we argue that an important function of many third places is that they turn their users’ flows of care outwards, from a focus on self-care to care for other people and elements of the space. We conclude with theoretical and practical discussion of the importance of attention to these flows of care in shore fishing spaces, specifically, and third places more generally.

Keywords

• Third places
• Social infrastructure
• Geographies of care
• Collective wellbeing
• Fishing