Lived mobilities: from a telos of freedom to a heuristic of mobilities and agency
Abstract
I propose lived mobilities as a concept and a heuristic to understanding mobilities and agency. I argue that mobilities as a negotiation of moving through and being in the world, a practice that is attuned to demands and desires. Using the experience of the Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand, I show how the given freedoms to move, stay, or return create new economies of demands. However, by considering the lived mobilities of a Hill Tribe vendor, I show that mobile agency emerges through negotiations instead of through freedoms. This grounds mobilities and agency in ethical world-making rather than liberal autonomy.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Geographies of human-animal interactions
Spatial and Cultural Studies
Political Theology and Sovereignty
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 98–107
- Publication date
- 2 January 2026
- Language
- EN