"Our western societies are becoming increasingly mobile": I always hear this statement. But which sort of mobility? Daily mobility? Circular migration? migration? etc.
I'm still not convinced because we have to better define what mobility is.
What's your position and what is the situation in your country?
Helle Cedric, I think that yes, western societies are increasingly mobile, in the sense that most people have more opportunities of knowing about other societies and travelling fast (thanks to airplanes). I would say that mobility is so common that permanent migration (in the sense of settling in a society and not going back or to any other place) is no longer as a need as it was.
There is an interisting article on the meanings of mobility and transnationalism in reseasrch by Australian antrhropologist Ghassan Hage. You may be interested in having a look to it.
Interesting comments Luis and Andreas!
I would like to distinguish between the possibility and capacity to move and the practices of mobility. I agree with you Andreas when you say that just some parts of the population are really more mobile than before. May be we could observe some waves of migrations from Southern Europe to Germany today. But for my opinion it is due to the present situation in both areas and makes no trend for a future long period. Is It?
Hi Andreas,
I was referring to a 2005 article in the journal Anthropological Theory.
The title is "A not so multi-sited etnography of a not so imagined community".
In it, Hage argues that transnational diaspora communities have not "migrated" permanently to a especific place but that mobility is a constant and that geographical mobility is linked to the desire for existential mobility (i.e new employment opportunities which are not available in the country of origin). I think it is a very good article in order to reflect the reasons for mobility and inmplications for research.
Hello Luis and Andreas
May be have we to split between daily; weekly mobility and (transnational) migration. Mobility for leisure is very high in near area (50% of daily mobility). Some tourists streams let suppose that international mobility are also high. But it is may be a spot effect of observation.
Cedric
Thanks for the interesting question and the discussion so far.
I would like to add another aspect in the mobility/sedentariness dimension. Im doing research on the role of stays abroad, in my case high school exchange and its meaning in later life of former participants. These kinds of stays abroad (like student exchange, au-pair-stays, some shorter stays for work like internships, voluntary services and others) add a new aspect to the seemingly opposed extremes of "mobility" and "sedentariness": a stay abroad is in between the two. On the one hand you have to perform an act of mobility to get to your destination. But being there, an important part of the experience is to live there (for some months or for a year) and to integrate, thus adding the dimension of being sedentary, even if only for a while. I would argue that these kinds of stays abroad are breaking up or at least softening the seeming antagonism of mobility and sedentariness, just like e.g. the phenomenon of multilocality is doing.
Speaking in numbers, the meaning of stays abraod (at least in Germany) has heavily increased in the last 20 years. But of course it is a phenomenon that is mostly related to members of the well-educated middle class. So - does it increase mobility? In a way yes, but it is also differentiating the meaning of mobility.
Your are right Michael. Multilocality or precisely for your case multilocal residentiality is a way to better understand or interpret the linkages between mobility and sedentariness.
I see that your are at the University of Münster. We grew a network on multilocality with your colleague Prof. Dr. Gerald Wood (Schöne Grüsse!).
I think that not well-educated people or lower and higher classes are also more "mobile" than after the second world war. But the forms of their mobility are different. I agree with you, Michael, when you say that training programms, student exchanges or produce more mobility in the middle class than before and more than in other classes. What about au-pair-stays. Could I ask you, who are the au-pair-mädchen? From the middle class? Have you data on it?
cdl
Hi Cedric,
Au-Pair-programs are interesting indeed, since probably they pose a smaller barrier on participation than other, more education-related practices. However, I dont have hard data on that, it is more an interpretation of the facts that on the one hand, it is rather cost-neutral (since youre paid by your host-family), and on the other hand, rather experience in child care (like babysitting) is needed than a higher education. But like with most stay abroad programs, there is little research on that topic (except maybe higher education exchange). Concernig high school exchange, Im trying to change that with my PhD thesis which I just finished. There will be an article in "Childrens Geographies" next year, Ill link it as soon as its out..
Thanks for the greetings, Gerald Wood is my Ph.D. advisor, I will say hi. Also your network is familiar to me, actually, I put up the hp of the network
(http://www.uni-muenster.de/Geographie/Multilokalitaet/multilokalitaet/home.html)
some years ago when I was a research assistant. ;-)
And I read your paper on French "archipelagos" which I found quite inspiring!
Dear Michael
By the way I wrote two new articles on the concept of Archipelago. One is now published in the collective work: Duchêne-Lacroix, Cédric. 2014. “Archipel oder die Territorialität in der Multilokalität der Lebenswelt.” In Mobil und doppelt sesshaft Studien zur residenziellen Multilokalität, edited by Peter Weichhart and Peter Rumpolt, 218–39. Abhandlungen zur Geographie und Regionalforschung 17. Wien: Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Instrumentation Engineering
- Instruments