Intentional Automobility: Mobility Choice Between Socialist and Postsocialist Chrononormativity

Abstract

This article responds to the uncritical use of chronological time and the strict division between past, present, and future when thinking about mobility behavior or mobility decisions. On the basis of this critique, it introduces the concept of intentional automobility, which relies on the Bergsonian–Deleuzian conception of time—duration (la durée). It shows that transport-mode decisions are not only made in the present, separated from the past and the future, but that the past and the future are part of every such decision. Using the example of the metropolitan area of Brno, Czech Republic, a postsocialist space, we show how differently socialist and postsocialist societies can be temporally normalized. At the same time, contemporary postsocialist mobility decisions are still influenced by socialist time norms—chrononormatives. Our main research question is how everyday mobility decisions between the car and public transport are influenced by the temporal norms of the society. To answer this question, we have employed a mixed methods research design that has been divided into a quantitative analysis of mode choice for individual trips and a qualitative analysis of statements about mode choice. Key findings include the relationship between transport-mode preference and a particular chrononormative. We identify four contexts—time, routing, alcohol, and everyday activity planning—in which the chrononormatives associated with the car and public transport are substitutable. It is on this basis that we introduce intentional automobility.

本文研究的问题是: 在考虑流动性行为或决策时, 不加批判地使用时间, 并且严格地划分过去、现在和未来。本文引入了基于柏格森-德勒兹的时间-历时概念的“汽车意向”。交通方式的决策, 不仅是现在的(与过去和未来无关), 过去和未来也是此类决策的一部分。本文以捷克共和国布尔诺大都会区为例, 展示了社会主义社会和后社会主义社会如何进行时间的范式化。当代后社会主义的流动性决策, 仍然受到社会主义时间范式的影响。本文主要研究了汽车和公共交通日常出行决策, 如何受到社会时间范式的影响。为此, 本文采用了一种混合方法: 对个人出行方式的选择进行定量分析、对个人出行方式选择的叙述进行定性分析。揭示了出行方式偏好与时间范式之间的关系。确定了四种情况: 时间、路线、酒精和日常活动计划。在这些情况下, 汽车和公共交通的时间范式是可替代的。在此基础上, 我们提出了“汽车意向”。

Este artículo responde al uso acrítico del tiempo cronológico y a la estricta división entre pasado, presente y futuro, cuando se piensa acerca del comportamiento de la movilidad o de las decisiones de movilidad. A partir de esta crítica, el artículo introduce el concepto de automovilidad intencional, que descansa en la concepción bergsoniana–deleuziana del tiempo–duración (la durée). Muestra que las decisiones sobre el modo de transporte no solo se hacen en el presente, separadas del pasado y del futuro, sino que el pasado y el futuro hacen parte de cada una de tales decisiones. Usando el ejemplo del área metropolitana de Brno, República Checa, que es un espacio postsocialista, mostramos de qué modo tan diferente las sociedades socialistas y postsocialistas pueden normalizarse temporalmente. Al mismo tiempo, las decisiones contemporáneas de movilidad postsocialistas aún siguen influidas por normas cronológicas socialistas–crononormativas. Nuestra principal pregunta de investigación es cómo son influidas las decisiones de movilidad cotidiana, entre el automóvil y el transporte público, por las normas temporales de la sociedad. Para responder esta pregunta hemos utilizado un diseño de investigación de métodos mixtos, dividido en un análisis cuantitativo de la elección del modo de transporte para viajes individuales y un análisis cualitativo de las declaraciones sobre el modo de elección. Los hallazgos clave incluyen la relación entre la preferencia del modo de transporte y una crononormativa particular. Identificamos cuatro contextos–tiempo, rutas, alcohol y la planificación de las actividades cotidianas–en los que las crononormativas asociadas con el automóvil y el transporte público son sustituibles. Es sobre esta base que introducimos la automovilidad intencional.

Key Words:

• chrononormativity
• decision-making
• intentional automobility
• multiplicity of durations
• non-Western experience

关键词:

• 时间范式
• 决策
• 汽车意向
• 历时多样性
• 非西方经验

Palabras clave:

• automovilidad intencional
• crononormatividad
• experiencia no occidental
• multiplicidad de duraciones
• toma de decisiones

Acknowledgments

First, we would like to express our gratitude for the long-term and inspiring teamwork with the first author of the article, our colleague and friend, Daniel Seidenglanz, who unfortunately passed away unexpectedly during the review process. We firmly believe that this article represents a worthy remembrance of his erudition and passion for pushing the boundaries of knowledge within transport geography and other related fields of human geography. We also kindly thank the very sensitive and patient editors of the journal and the two anonymous referees of the original article. Last but not least, we are grateful to the discussants in the informal geographical and anthropological discussion group in Brno.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We do not claim that capitalist societies are not synchronized. They are also synchronized, but it is a different type of synchronization. In the context of transportation, an example of such synchronization could be traffic congestion. In the case of socialist synchronization, it is intentional and planned synchronization, which is collective and collectively experienced within means of public transport, employee canteen, company holidays, and so on. In the case of capitalist synchronization, it is individualized, individually experienced, unplanned, and unintentional synchronization, which is not collectively experienced within the cocoon of an automobile. Whereas socialist synchronization is understood as external, determined by the state policy, the responsibility for capitalist synchronization is internalized and understood as a consequence of the flexible behavior of individuals.

2 Cycling is, in this context, also an individualized, desynchronized, and flexible mode of transport, which is not in conflict with the car in terms of temporality.

3 Post-Soviet states represent a specific spatial context where alternative urban modes of transport have been formed. One significant manifestation of the problematic institutional and economic transformation of these countries is the emergence of the marshrutkas phenomenon. Marshrutkas are a form of public transportation (minibus or van) similar to a shared taxi. According to Sgibnev and Vozyanov (2016), marshrutka-based transport is a major sector of the Central Asian economy.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation under Grant GA17-16097S.

Notes on contributors

Daniel Seidenglanz

DANIEL SEIDENGLANZ was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Masaryk University (Faculty of Science), Brno 611 37, Czech Republic. His research interests included transport geography with a special focus on railway infrastructure, urban mobility, and aeromobility, but also the wider context of population geography, demography, and time–space rhythms.

Robert Osman

ROBERT OSMAN is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Masaryk University (Faculty of Science), Brno 611 37, Czech Republic. E-mail: [email protected]. His scientific interests include critical time studies and disability geography, which he combines to study crip temporalities of postsocialist space.

Jiří Malý

JIŘÍ MALÝ is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Masaryk University (Faculty of Science), Brno 611 37, Czech Republic. E-mail: [email protected]. He is interested in urban and metropolitan development and planning, sociodemographic changes, postsocialist urban transformations, everyday mobility, and transport behavior.