On Mobilities and Immobilities: An Ethnographic Approach to the Construction of Inequality in Mexico City

Abstract

The study of mobilities offers the opportunity to understand different features of inequality and heterogeneity in contemporary societies. Through the creation of a toll highway in Mexico City, this paper analyses the meaning that individuals give to their daily mobility experience. It is discussed how different mobility patterns are closely related to socio-economic levels and to variations in quality and lifestyles of people. Unequal use of space provides elements to understand the city from different experiences, creating a sense of time and space diverse among people, reinforcing social exclusion and marginalization patterns. Thus, the study of mobilities in connection with inequality, rather than a distributional issue, is produced and reproduced itself through everyday practices.