Mobility Flashcards
(25 cards)
How is mobility defined in human geography?
As the movement and circulation of people, goods, and information locally or across scales.
What broader areas does mobility as a research field include?
It spans corporeal movement, transportation, communication infrastructures, capitalist spatial restructuring, migration, immigration, citizenship, transnationalism, tourism, and travel.
What does Tim Cresswell argue about mobility?
That mobility is inherently political and raises important geographical questions.
What is the ‘kinetic hierarchy’ as described by Zygmunt Bauman and Cresswell?
Those at the top move freely and luxuriously by choice, while those at the bottom are compelled to move painfully, often being rejected upon arrival.
What were the major global migration patterns during the 19th and early 20th centuries?
North-North (e.g., European migration to the Americas), South-South (e.g., indentured labourers), and North-South (e.g., European colonists to colonies).
What global migration trends followed World War II?
The end of colonial rule, South-North and South-South migration growth, and increased migrant-sending countries.
What is a key cause of irregular or undocumented migration in Europe?
Visa overstaying is the most common cause.
What is the ‘feminisation of migration’?
The increasing number of independent female migrants due to global service economy demands since the 1970s.
What percentage of global migrants are women, and how does this vary regionally?
Women make up 48% globally; higher in Europe (52.4%) and North America (51.2%), and lower in Asia (42%).
How many refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) were there in 2022?
35.3 million refugees and 62.5 million IDPs.
Which countries hosted the most refugees in 2022?
Turkey hosted the most, with 3.6 million refugees.
What has historically shaped understandings of migration in geography?
Sedentarist views (e.g., Ravenstein’s laws) and neoclassical economic models focusing on wage differentials and the push-pull model.
What is the main critique of the push-pull model in migration studies?
It treats people as atomised individuals and ignores structural inequalities and power dynamics.
What is the ‘mobilities turn’ in geography?
A shift in focus to mobility as a central, rather than exceptional, part of social and spatial life.
How did spatial science in the 1960s view mobility?
As functional movement between fixed points, with a focus on spatial patterns and location over movement.
What types of mobilities and immobilities exist today?
Examples include visa restrictions, points-based immigration, and selective mobility favouring young, healthy, skilled migrants.
What does the quote from Hannam, Sheller, and Urry (2006) emphasize about global mobility?
That modern life is shaped by intersecting mobilities—even for those who don’t move themselves.
How can mobility be represented symbolically?
Through iconography like the euro’s bridges and politically charged imagery, e.g., anti-immigration posters.
What has enabled transnational lifestyles for migrants?
Improved and cheaper communication and transport, allowing frequent travel and maintaining cross-border relationships.
What roles do remittances play in transnational migration?
Migrants send money and goods home, often contributing significantly to their country’s GDP.
What is the scale and strategy of Philippine transnationalism?
Since the 1970s, the Philippines has exported labour with 10% of its population abroad and major remittances (US$33 billion by 2017).
What occupations are common among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)?
Domestic workers, factory workers, seafarers (25% of the world’s), nurses, and engineers.
What countries host the most Filipino migrants?
USA, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, Italy, Qatar, UAE, and the UK.
How did 1960s transport geography understand movement?
As ‘effort’ explained by differences in place utility.
