Mobilities and the network of personal technologies: Refining the understanding of mobility structure

Abstract

Our ambition here is to refine the various typologies that compose the mobility structure. We aim to complement the work done by Urry and investigate the role played in the structure of mobility by what we call the “network of personal technologies”. Our new model consists of four different levels: macro-mobilities, micro-mobilities, media mobility and disembodied mobilities. By “macro-mobilities,” we refer to the actions which imply consistent physical displacement, such as travels, tours and commuting. By “micro-mobilities,” we mean small-scale displacements, including bodily movements and emotions. With moving media, we refer both to the new mobility provided by the smartphone to the traditionally fixed media and to the penetration of these into public spaces. Finally, “disembodied mobility” designates the transformations that have taken place within the social order as earlier hierarchies of dimensions, values and meanings have been overturned. Hopefully, this new model will enable us to enhance the analysis of mobility structure by taking human beings and their bodies as a point of reference.