Mobility as a potentiality: ways of understanding mobility from the perspective of new technologies and the paradigm of mobility

Abstract

The paper refers to the new mobilities paradigm as a perspective of describing contemporary social phenomena related to mobility and movement. It points to the interdependence between new forms of action taken by social actors and technological development. Three dimensions of the relationships between technology, mobility and social significance are described: the understanding of space, the understanding of time and identity of an individual and an agency. The most important assumption of the paper is that mobility is socially defined. Based on the results of a qualitative empirical research, several ways of social understanding of mobility are identified: portability, accessibility, internet connectivity, comparison with analogue/stationary systems. As a result, mobility has not been shown as a permanent social characteristic, but as a potentiality.