Alone together: Public and private dimensions of a Tel-Aviv cafe

An illustrative case is presented which analyzes the temporal, physical, social and cultural borders of a Tel-Aviv cafe. The paper shows how the boundaries of a social setting change so that a private space becomes public, and vice versa, and how people themselves can feel they are in a private and public space at the same time. The findings are examined in view of the sociological discussion of public and private spaces. The conclusions point to the dynamic and elastic nature of social places as expressed in the specific cultural context of Israeli society, which is characterized by a unique blend of aloneness and togetherness. Finally, the study is related to the current theoretical debate between the interactionist and the structuralist approaches to everyday life.We would like to thank our colleagues, in particular Haim Hazan and Eviatar Zerubavel, for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. We are also indebted to our friends at Afarcemon—owners and customers—for their cooperation.