D11.1: Collection of Topics and Clusters of Mobility and Identity – Towards a Taxonomy of Mobility and Identity

Title: THE CONCEPTS OF ‘MOBILITY’ , ‘MOBILE’ AND ‘LOCATIONAL INFORMATION’

The concept ‘mobility’ in sociology

In this section, first social mobility is shortly discussed. Secondly we look into ‘mobility and social interaction’.  

Social mobility 

In social science, social mobility can refer to both horizontal and vertical changes or moves. 

• Social mobility concentrates on changes in the socio economical status (SES). Social mobility can be the result of “(1) structural changes in the working population, new positions become available or some positions experience a lack of people (there can be a demographical cause) or (2) efforts of individuals, to generate a certain position (e.g. educational level – importance of status gaining processes).” (Vincke, 1998, p. 265).

• Horizontal social mobility concerns, according to Sorokin (Sorokin 1959), ‘transition of an individual or social object from one social group to another situated on the same level’, while vertical social mobility, ‘refers to transitions of people from one social stratum to one higher or lower in the social scale’ (Sorokin, 1959).

As to social mobility, it is interesting to note that there has been a shift in interest of marketers in the use of typologies. One very old fashioned but still used typology is the ABCD typology. The ABCD typology divides people into 4 categories on the basis of income. In the beginning, marketers were interested in the homogeneity of each class concerning, tastes, styles etc. Later on, they became interested in the movement of style patterns and preferences, beyond the class indicators. Social mobility was no longer something to control but something to investigate as ‘source productive diversity’ (Advirsson, 2004, pp. 465-466). To use Urry’s metaphor (Urry, 2000, p. 186): there was a shift away from Bauman’s gardener metaphor towards a gamekeeper vision. This change in interest could reflect the diverse socio–cultural changes that occurred in the second half of the 20th century. As the overall wealth level of the populations increased and (catholic) morals became looser, people were freer to choose. In the spirit of capitalist societies, marketers learned that they would accumulate more if they could reach a broader mass for their products, instead of a priori ignoring the entrance of certain resources to fixed categories of people. According to Bennet and Regan, the idea of the ‘mobile consumer’ precisely points out that “market research has come to regard all consumer actions and movement as having value.” (Bennet, Regan, 2004, p. 450).

Mobility and social interaction 

In general, ‘mobility is the ability and willingness to move or change’.  Nowadays, the (geographical) limits on social interaction, which have existed for so long, are declining very fast. In the light of the biological and socio–cultural evolution of human race, ‘physical proximity’ and ‘stable dwelling places’ were the basic conditions for people to engage in the very first complex human organisations. The horticulture of the Neolithic period or the irrigated valleys in Egypt and the industrialised urban cities all confirm this thesis. Over time, as the locomotion gave rise to the increase of spatial mobility, interpersonal communications were no longer sufficient to overcome distance. The landline phone decreased this gap by the end of the 19th century. However this technology implied the need to stay fixed with the landline phone to be able to communicate. But nowadays the mobile phone as Geser points out, “makes communication compatible with spatial mobility.” (Geser, 2004, p.5). Fortunati uses the term ‘nomadic intimacy’ (Geser, 2004).

For social science studies, movements and mobilities have become  an interesting field of study, as Castells stipulates in his theory of the space of flows: “our society is constructed around flows: flows of capital, of information, of technology, flows of organizational interaction, of images, sounds, symbols.” (Castells, 1996). Being able to capture information about these flows becomes very important. The surveillance of flows and thus of mobilities (movements of people, cars, devices, data) is also important in the study of mobility and identity. Evidently the study of the movements of mobile identities as performed by surveillance technologies has profound implications for the ipse identities of citizens, employees, children, parents, etc.