Mobility Humanities

Dwelling is often understood by static dimensions. This article sets out to mobilise the notion of dwelling by first drawing on the migrant philosophy of Vilém Flusser and comparing it with the views of Martin Heidegger and Marc Augé. Thereafter, the idea of dwelling in mobility is applied to a case study on East German long-distance lorry drivers. Based on extensive field research, including autoethnography, the author demonstrates the practices of long-haul drivers who inhabit their cabs as living spaces when being on the road and tend to prefer them over their flats. Further, he compares space and time available for long-distance drivers and demonstrates that, unlike space, there is ample time, guaranteed by the lorry’s tachograph, a control device that alleviates exploitation by employers. In this context, the article shows that on the highly competitive market of lorry driving it is not stricter legislation but the technological control of that legislation that provides the backdrop for dwelling experiences. After considering different qualities of waiting, the article concludes that long-haul lorry drivers in Germany, due to the lack of available space and the existence of sufficient time frames, find their ground for dwelling rather in temporal than spatial dimensions.