The Mobile Individual : Mobile Life, Longer-term Approaches and Subjectivities

"Being mobile is more than just traveling." Early research on transportation long believed that daily commutes were a waste of time, and that modes of transportation were simply interchangeable depending on changing circumstances. However, as research on daily mobility advances, a better understanding of the social and symbolic significance of such practices emerges. All of this contributes to the fact that daily mobility is not just a means to an end but is often at the very heart of deeply ingrained lifestyles and habits. With contributions from internationally recognized specialists, this book provides an overview of the different facets of the individual experience of mobility. Using a three-pronged approach, the book draws upon the experience of everyday time and long-term processes such as socialization to mobility, while also attempting to better understand what feeds mobile subjectivities, starting with the social representations of modes and habits that people develop throughout their lives.