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Geographies of Trust: Hitchhiking from Gateshead to Calais

Nieuwenhuis, Marijn

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Abstract

“Trust is the most joyous kind of bond with another living being. But isn't it true that whenever we enjoy being with someone, there is [both] a factor of risk there, and also a factor of trust, which gives our enjoyment an edge of rapture?” (Lingis 2004: x). Trust is akin to a permeable border, solid but skin-thin, that makes possible connections between Other and self, self and world. A hitchhiker exercises trust when surrendering to another but, as a prerequisite to a successful journey, also submits to indeterminacies and ambiguities of chance encounters. Trust is openness, but also an acceptance of risk. Whilst on the road, it is impossible to know who you will travel with next. Trust guides and draws lines and dots on the map. Trust determines the length of waiting times at petrol pumps; it regulates feelings of safety; and shapes geographic contours. Trust is an emotion that welcomes becoming. In contrast, a lack of trust impedes the friendship necessary to move the hitchhiker’s body; provokes feelings of danger; and, inevitably, will hamper the fluency of lines on the map. Trust is the fundamental stuff of hitchhiking. But, what is trust? How does it look like, feel like, how is it evoked, and where is it located? Does it have a colour, a gender? Drawing insights from the phenomenological work of Alphonso Lingis and my own personal experiences being-on-the-road, this contribution analyses geographies, feelings and the sensing of trust associated with and experienced in hitchhiking.

Citation

Nieuwenhuis, M. (2022). Geographies of Trust: Hitchhiking from Gateshead to Calais. Geohumanities, 8(1), 329-343. https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566x.2021.1990102

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 29, 2021
Online Publication Date Dec 6, 2021
Publication Date 2022
Deposit Date Jul 30, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal GeoHumanities
Print ISSN 2373-566X
Electronic ISSN 2373-5678
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Issue 1
Pages 329-343
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566x.2021.1990102

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