World wide wandering: e-drifting in Paris and London

Abstract

This article documents and reflects on a series of ‘e-drifts’ conducted in 2012 through the physical and virtual spaces of Paris and London. E-drifting is proposed as a new form of cultural pathfinding for a contemporary city that is increasingly global, networked and integrated with virtual spaces. The primary methodology—wandering—is understood as a resistant practice that can inform and shape the ways in which we use and inhabit both urban and cyber spaces. Increasingly, our relationship with our physical environment is also determined by our access to, and experience of, virtual and global realms. This article argues that the ‘political inquiry’ that wandering can bring about has to evolve in order to enter and challenge this new expanded space. These ideas are explored through a narrated account of a summer’s e-drifting. This is a practice-based inquiry into the ways in which, in these fluid, dynamic environments, wandering might be reimagined and refocussed in order to retain its potentially resistant qualities.