ABSTRACT
The mobility of objects and detainees’ possessions in confined space is a largely overlooked dynamic in the prison context. Yet, objects and their movements tell tales of inner social worlds and complex interplays of care and control. Due to their high levels of mobility, many objects – ranging from mundane everyday supplies to prohibited contraband – signify the semipermeable nature of prison environments as they constantly cross boundaries of inside and outside. In an imaginary, as well as material form, they are markers of inner regimes but also evoke atmospheres and symbolic perceptions of closed space. Being interested in their ‘loco-motional’ characteristics means to analyse an object’s change in position over time, as well considering the underlying power that influences this action and the expedients involved in accompanying spatial practices. Locomotion, underlines here ‘locus’ the place and displacement in a variety of movements.1 The alteration of material and symbolic spaces through tactical use of objects has long been on the agenda of object-related theories and philosophy, and has been adopted by human geographers in a range of sub-disciplines.
