Mobilities Flashcards
(63 cards)
How does Cresswell (2010) define Mobilities
as the ‘complex entanglements of movement, representation and practice’
what are constellations of mobility?
Patterns of movement, representations of movement and ways of practicing movement that make sense together
constellations of the past can break into the present
explain mobility as movement
physical movement is the raw material for production of mobility
movement can be mapped and used to derive laws and equations of efficiency
doesn’t address how mobilities gain meaning or how they are practiced
explain mobilities as representation
mobility figured as adventure, tedium, education, as freedom etc
geographers complicit in the weavings of narratives around mobility
representations of movement have been displayed in literature, film , philosophy and the arts
explain mobility as practice
the everyday sense of particular practices
more theoretical sense of embodiment
human mobility is practiced mobility that is enacted and experienced through the body
eg. sometimes movement is painful
when we have hope we move with a spring in our step
Mobility is a resource that is differentially accessed
explain this using an example
immobilities and mobilities are all related in ways that are infused with power
e.g.. one persons speed is another’s slowness
The school run - allows women to enact an efficient form of mobility which is often denied them
at the same time impacts the ability of children to walk to school safely
What did Michael Oliver (Disability theorist) suggest about walking?
there is an ideology around walking that gives walking a set of meanings associated with being fully human and masculine
‘walking tall’ is a sign of manhood and medical professionals take great time to help those who cannot walk to walk
To reject the option of walking from professionals challenges normality and exposes ideologies
challenging their power and their use as political
How are representation and practice connected?
give an example to illustrate
the representation of movement can effect the experience of its practice
EG. Mexican Immigrants in the united states compared to member of multinational corporation jetting between world cities
what is ‘gait analysis’
can now identify bodies in airports moving at irregular patterns , create suspicion and can flag these people for extra searching
this is a biased method based on a certain aesthetic of correct mobility that mixes with politics
mobility can be used more sinisterly
rhythm of mobility explanation
rhythm is implicated in the production and contestation of social order
for there to be social change a social group must imprint a new rhythm on an era
‘Mobility is channelled’ - explain
mobility moves along routes provided by conduits in space
this is not an even process
routing of infrastructure - valued areas of the metropolis are targeted so that they are drawn into intense interaction with whilst other areas are largely detached
Example of city development creating uneven mobilities
Development of Commuter network in Los Angeles
trains built to facilitate speedy transit from suburb to city
but bypass predominantly black and hispanic areas of the city
train riders disproportionatley white
bus riders black , hispanic and female
The train hardly stopping served white commuters who on average travelled further to work but not minorities who rely on stops for shorter commuting distances
Plane seating arrangement is perfect example of the stark experience of the politics within mobility
Explain
those at the back in economy = cramped, uncomfortable , oxygen starved
first class - provides more space, more oxygen, better food and more toilets per person
what is dromology?
Concept of the worlds velocity
the regulation of differing capacities to move
concerns the power to stop and to put into motion
to incarcerate of accelerate objects and people
what are ‘moorings’
are the stabilising anchoring factors that counterbalance mobility creating tension between fluid movement and stable location
how do mobilities challenge governance?
the space of the state is no longer a unified block but rather a multifaceted and overlapping set of economic , political and social geographies
mobilities both global and local restructure space and time by shifting the focus away from static territorial models of governance to more fluid networked levels of regulation
Hannam, Sheller and Urry (2006)
Airports and Mobility
airports are a place of mass mobility that requires extensive and immobile place
mainly facilitate the global hyper elite
bring connected places closer together but further distance the less connected places
Before people are mobile they are immobilised in waiting rooms, lounges ,caffes - whilst some are on the move others are immobilised
Airports are also place of cyber mobilities - software keeps the airport running smoothly eg- iris scanning systems create different speeds/rhythms of mobility dependent on racial and economic profiling
Airports are becoming like cities but cities are also becoming like airports with increased surveillance
Hannam, Sherry and Urry (2006)
Urban disasters
Highlight the fragility of mobility
Terrorism - 9/11 attack disruption of mobility and feelings around mobility, changes the way that mobility is practiced
Covid 19- mass spread of disease highly restricted mobility but this was unequal between different people
eg- vulnerable + kinetic elite (Prime minister exposed for parties)
Cloke et al (2003)
Homeless mobilities
examined the complex mobilities of homeless people in rural England
point out that despite the association of mobility with homeless with labels such as ‘tramps’ and ‘transients’
the mobility of homeless is often actively encouraged by governments eager to move homeless of their turf
In the US ‘greyhound therapy’ - buying homeless people a bus ticket out of town
Cloke et al - date?
2003
how does anti homeless infrastructure encourage mobility of homeless and how is this political?
prevents homeless from sleeping on benches and walls etc
keeps them moving clear political tool of governments to present a city that is not overrun by homeless a work of concealment
homeless use a network of mobility
relationship between place and mobilities
discard usual notions of space and scale
new mobilities paradaigm argues against the distinct seperation of place and people
there is instead a distinct relationality of places and persons
connected through performance
activities are not separate from the places that they happen within
mobilities are involved in the formation of place both local and global and external and internal
Sheller and Urry (2006)
The new mobilities paradaigm
part of a broader theoretical project to go beyond the imagery of ‘terrains’ as spatially fixed geographical containers for social process
the world is becoming increasingly interconnected creating new mobilities that challenge static geographies
How does the new mobilities paradigm undermine sedentarism?
treats stability , meaning and place as normal and distance place and change as abnormal
sedentism locates bounded and authentic places and nations - fails to recognise the significance of the car and its compression on social distance
