Boarding Mumbai trains: the mutual shaping of intersectionality and mobility

ABSTRACT

This article analyses how intersectionality and mobility shape each other in the case of deaf women who board the Mumbai suburban trains, which have separate compartments reserved for women and for people with disabilities. These compartments being adjacent, deaf women often make last-minute decisions where to board, and even happen to switch compartments at a further station. Here, intersectionality shapes mobility in that it entails a complex and changeable, context-dependent set of strategies and decisions. Mobility shapes intersectionality in that by being mobile, people assert or develop different aspects of their lived experiences, preferences and aspirations.

KEYWORDS:

• Crowding
• commuting
• women
• gender
• deaf
• ladies compartments

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Sujit Sahasrabudhe, Mette Sommer and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.