Thursday, March 8, 2012

Call for papers: Moving boundaries in mobilities research

Organised by the University of Cagliari in collaboration with the Cosmobilities Network
Venue: University of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy)
Dates: 5-7 July 2012.

Background
Mobilities is a distinct strand of theory and research in social science, an evolving approach that synthesises in an original way existing and new writings on the combined movements of people, objects and information. The mobilities turn addresses conceptual and methodological challenges posed by old and new transformations in transport and communication systems and their implications for contemporary lives and natures.

Over the last decade the mobilities turn has generated enthusiasm across different fields and informed studies in a wide range of topics and problematics, from tourism, migration, transport, urban planning and mobile communication to logistics, climate change, consumption and inequality. In the Anglophone world interest is particularly evident in sociology and human geography. One among many anecdotal examples is Tim Cresswell’s article ‘Towards a politics of mobility’ which currently figures as the most downloaded paper in the last twelve months in Environment and Planning D: Space and Society.

While research has, up to date, tended to focus on the daily micromobilities of people and objects, attention is also being directed towards histories of mobility, the mobility of ideas, large scale circulation systems, building materials and resource consumption and circulation.  As an approach with moving boundaries, mobilities research is also developing methodologies and methods that respond to both conceptual innovations and the empirical realities of a world on the move. Innovations in ‘mobile methods’ are openning up promising prospects and still unfulfilled possibilities some of which are related to the way new ICTs routinely generate, collect and disseminate data. The mobilities turn, like most social science, still has to come to terms with these trends and create synergies with streams of research that are successfully exploiting these opportunities. At the moment, major advances in network theory, one of the backbones of complexity theory, are coming not so much from the physical sciences but from research on the social, drawing on vast amounts of data generated by intelligent networked infrastructures and mobile telephony. 

Aim
This conference, funded by the University of Cagliari and organized in collaboration with the Cosmobilities Network, aims at discussing new directions in mobilities research, showcasing the state of the art in the field, and providing a unique opportunity to create lasting links among researchers, especially in the north and the south of Europe.
The language of this event will be English but the range of papers presented will be a reflection of the diversity of concerns, approaches and methodologies informing mobilities research in Europe and beyond.

Young and experienced researchers are invited to submit abstracts for paper presentations. High quality abstracts on any aspect of mobilities are welcomed although submissions addressing the following themes are particularly encouraged:
histories of mobilities
cultures of mobilities
mobilities outside the north Atlantic rim
the spaces and politics of mobility (and immobility) in the Mediterranean city
forms of mobility other than car, train and aeroplane
research conducted in collaboration with artists and public and private actors outside academia illustrating the way  new knowledge collectives are formed around the use of new ICTs
transnational research involving different institutional settings

Deadline for abstract submissions
Dealine: April  25, 2012


more calls for papers:

Call for papers: CITTA 5th annual conference Planning and Ageing: Think, Act and Share Age-friendly Cities

Call for papers: Urban Research & Practice (Journal)

Call for Papers: EURA Conference Urban Europe - Challenges to Meet the Urban Future

Call for Papers: THE COSMOPOLITAN METROPOLIS: Sixth Biennial Urban History Association Conference


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