%0 Journal Article %T Accidental communities: Chance operations in urban life and field research %A Matthew Rosen %J Ethnography %@ 1741-2714 %D 2018 %R 10.1177/1466138117727553 %X This article explores themes of chance and contingency in relation to field research I carried out in a network of outdoor newspaper libraries in Pune, India. Appearing amid the city¡¯s transformation into a major regional hub linking western Maharashtra into the global economy, the vernacular institution of the footpath library emerges as a lens for bringing a range of issues related to social change in urban India into clearer focus. I show that the street library is not just a quiet place to sit and read but a site of social visibility and cultural assertion for Marathi-speaking migrants in the city %K community %K ethnography %K fieldwork %K India %K media %K publics %K social change %K urban space %U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1466138117727553