Speed and space: rates of motion in health and wellbeing

The posthumanist turn in health and wellbeing research has paid attention to the qualities of space, particularly through the work of geographers. Although a range of these qualities have been explicitly articulated and well explored, a clear omission in the literature has been ‘speed’ - an important quality in its own right, and evident in all other qualities. This review paper takes a good look at speed. First it considers what speed is, and the myriad ways in which it arises and is registered according to science and other intellectual paradigms. Second it considers speed as a distinctive feature of twenty-first century life and the health and wellbeing involvements and implications of this life. Third it considers some partial precedent for a focus on speed and space in health and wellbeing research, by drawing speed out of current studies where it is implicit or a minor consideration. To conclude, the paper thinks about the issues, challenges and possibilities for researching speed more fully, and the opportunities this might open up.