A house turned inside out - Inhabiting space in a Yemeni City

Based on the analysis of the organization of space in Yemen, this article explores whether Bourdieu's model of the Kabyle house is applicable outside Algeria. While agreeing with Bourdieu's contention that spatial meanings are invoked through the practice of men and women, I argue that the embodiment of socio-spatial divisions is contingent upon both gender and non-gender-based principles such as age and status affiliation. I suggest, furthermore, that the space of the house is never unambiguously private or public. Boundaries between these domains cannot be meaningfully drawn because they. constantly shift in accordance with the categories of actors who inhabit space. The moral codes governing behaviour and the practical activities of men and women produce continuities and discontinuities in the ordering of space both inside and outside the house.