preprints.org > social sciences > sociology > doi: 10.20944/preprints202003.0212.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 12 March 2020 / Approved: 12 March 2020 / Online: 12 March 2020 (13:20:52 CET)

In our paper, we develop the hypothesis of a general call for high mobility and discuss the consequences of it. First, we examine the contemporary social representations of mobility, looking for a definition of what is seen as being properly mobile. We will then show how intertwined social representations of space and time result in the prevalent vision of an inevitable and constant mobility. Next, we will thus discuss the importance of seeing mobility as much more than its material facet. Our third step will be to propose a formalisation of the contemporary requisite for mobility. Through four imperatives (activity, activation, participation, adaptation), the mobilitarian ideal requires each person and organisation to be constantly active, mobile, flexible, networking, etc. We argue that, today, we are all meant to be highly mobile. We will illustrate this point with the example of the parliamentary documents of the Belgian Prison Act (2005) in which prison is open and porous, good inmates are described as dynamic individuals on the move and the legitimate penitentiary system is a paradoxical mobilisation system. We will conclude by discussing the need to reshape our vision of the prison, considering its apparently paradoxical relation with mobility.

prison; criminal law; mobility; mobilitarian ideal; activity; activation; participation; adaptation

Social Sciences, Sociology