Journeys, Mobility and Flows: Accessibility Work in Berlin’s Public Transport

Abstract

Demands for accessibility bring dis/abled bodies and in/accessible infrastructures together in mutually defining encounters. Through the case of accessibility in Berlin’s public transport system, I explore how these encounters figure in practice. Specifically, I present movement through public transport as an object of knowledge and intervention in accompaniment services and advocacy for accessibility. I analyze three forms in which this movement figures: Journeys, Mobility and Flows. Each of these forms delimits bodies and infrastructure in specific ways. Their limits and capacities are thus not self-evident givens, but variously known and negotiated in the critical work of creating and maintaining accessibility.