Dimensiones de la intimidad: claves para comprender una categoría esquiva

This article explores the experiences and notions of intimacy in adults residing in middle-class neighborhoods of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, based on anthropological and sociological approaches on intimacy, as well as the contributions of studies of emotions and affects. Based on the analysis of the data collected, the intersections between intimacy and aspects such as transactions, negotiations, money, commercial matters, politics and the State are examined. Three key dimensions of intimacy are identified: a) a cultural and institutional dimension, understood as a mold made up of pragmatic agreements that interrelate the private sphere with the public, commercial, labor and legal sphere; b) a spatial dimension, which examines proximity and closeness in the differential circulation of information; and c) a communicative dimension, where intimacy is understood as a non-pre-reflective communicative act, productive only when it is not excessive. The research that gave rise to this text was carried out between 2019 and 2023 and used various data collection techniques, such as in-depth interviews, informal conversations and observations in contexts that the participants considered intimate. The general objective was to analyze the ways in which people between 25 and 50 years old from middle classes residing in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires think about and experience intimacy.