Care and Sociability in London’s Barbers and Salons After Dark

This paper is about barbers and hair salons in London, England, open beyond the traditional retail hours of 9:00 to 18:00. Observation and interviews with managers took place before and after the COVID-19 lockdowns and against a backdrop of regular debates about nightlife, gentrification, the sustainability of local high streets, and austerity. There is extensive research on barbers and salons in terms of community and identity; this paper adds to that literature but centres the night and argues that after dark they also function as important spaces of care and as social infrastructure. The salons examined were mostly what Dutta refers to as ‘diasporic spaces’ and provided the opportunity for sociability, the exchange of knowledge, and care. They were also evidence of how venues after dark vary in meaning according to different practices as well as different discourses of the night.