A speakeasy bar in an urban settlement as a heterotopia space

Abstract Speakeasies or illegal drinking establishments were widespread during the Prohibition Era in the 1920s in the United States of America. Since the US government banned the consumption, manufacture, and distribution of alcohol, Speakeasies’ underground nature created a new environment for people to drink and socialize. There is no identification of these places, solely relying on word of mouth to gain their popularity. There are similarities between the concept of speakeasies and heterotopia—Michel Foucault described it as a placeless place or a world inside a world. The term heterotopia is often used to illustrate disturbance in the surrounding environment. Are there correlations between speakeasy and heterotopia? Is speakeasy a form of heterotopia? This paper examines the correlation of heterotopia and speakeasy bars, as well as the question of whether speakeasy is a form of a heterotopia place. To a further extent, the discussion on social constraints occurring from the existence of a speakeasy bar in a settlement complex will be investigated through six heterotopia principles coined by Foucault. Through interviews and data observations in Oj’s Tavern, Bandung, this paper offers a new discussion on urban settlement and its connection to the heterotopia, and what it implies to the surrounding environment.