Paper short abstract

Why did the anthropologist cross the road? --> To get to the Other.

Paper long abstract

This paper questions some of the associations linked to the alternative modalities of experience (a)effecting hitch-hikers. Hitching is certainly amongst the more radical type of transport methods. Its 'otherness', however, varies depending on particular cultural and historical settings, trends, socio-economic changes, road architecture planning, civic-surveillance and so on. Currently in Western Europe, hitch-hiking is largely seen as a long lost form of mobility. And yet in many places in Eastern Europe, it is still practiced with some vigour, even if it manifests itself through various guises. Through visual, textual, mnemonic and hopefully interactive solicitations, this presentation shall explore this phenomenon, especially as it relates to such themes as alienation, dependence, gender, fear, sociability, protest and the creation of (dys/u)topic visions.