The Citizen and the Vagabond
A Politics of Mobility
Book •
Tim Cresswell's The Citizen and the Vagabond: A Politics of Mobility develops a theoretical framework for understanding mobility as foundational to social and cultural ordering.
Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, Cresswell analyzes movement through concepts of speed, routes, friction, rhythm, and turbulence to show how mobility both creates and contests hierarchies.
He contrasts the figure of the citizen—whose mobility is normalized and protected—with the vagabond—whose mobility is stigmatized and controlled.
The book engages with events such as COVID-19 lockdowns to illustrate how increased mobility can generate new forms of surveillance and control while exposing inequalities.
It offers an interdisciplinary intervention for scholars and readers interested in geography, migration, urbanism, and the politics of movement.
Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, Cresswell analyzes movement through concepts of speed, routes, friction, rhythm, and turbulence to show how mobility both creates and contests hierarchies.
He contrasts the figure of the citizen—whose mobility is normalized and protected—with the vagabond—whose mobility is stigmatized and controlled.
The book engages with events such as COVID-19 lockdowns to illustrate how increased mobility can generate new forms of surveillance and control while exposing inequalities.
It offers an interdisciplinary intervention for scholars and readers interested in geography, migration, urbanism, and the politics of movement.
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Stephen Pimpare
Tim Cresswell
Tim Cresswell, "The Citizen and the Vagabond: A Politics of Mobility" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)
