HomeMobility: concepts and values
Mobility: concepts and values
La mobilité : concepts et valeurs
Published on Monday, October 07, 2013
Abstract
Most often, descriptive studies about spatial mobility rest on evaluative assumptions. For instance, the recent “mobility turn” in social theory frequently claims that mobility is underlying every social practice, but also that is vital. Likewise, studies about how poverty, disability, gender and citizenship affect people’s mobility implicitly assume that unequal mobility is unjust and should be redressed. So, what is mobility and what makes it so vital and important? This conference’s aim is twofold: to make explicit the value judgments underlying descriptive studies about people’s mobility and to further clarify the concept of mobility.
Announcement
Rational
Most often, descriptive studies about spatial mobility rest on evaluative assumptions. For instance, the recent “mobility turn” in social theory (Urry, 2000) frequently claims that mobility is underlying every social practice, but also that is vital (Creswell, 2006; Adey, 2010). Likewise, studies about how poverty, disability, gender and citizenship affect people’s mobility implicitly assume that unequal mobility is unjust and should be redressed. So, what is mobility and what makes it so vital and important?
This conference’s aim is twofold: to make explicit the value judgments underlying descriptive studies about people’s mobilityand to further clarify the concept of mobility. While considerable work has been done in mobility studies through concepts such as fluidity, accessibility and motility (Kaufmann, 2002), the meaning of mobility still varies according to disciplinary fields, authors and social practices considered. More surprisingly, ethics and theories of justice remain largely unaffected by the “mobility turn” (with some exception e.g. Bergmann & Sager, 2008). Occasionally, mobility has been recognized as a basic capability relevant to disability and gender justice (Nussbaum 2000; Robeyns, 2003; Kronlid, 2008); sometimes, freedom of movement is mentioned as a basic right (Shue, 1980), a primary good (Rawls, 1995), or even as a synonym for freedom (Hobbes, 1651; Carter, 1999). But no work has been devoted so far to analyzing the concept of mobility and the problems of justice it raises.
This interdisciplinary conference invites researchers working on various topics (residential mobility, accessibility and transportation, migrations, tourism, nomadism, etc.) to formulate and compare their definitions of mobility, and to explain the values underlying their use of the concept. This conference aims to take a step towards an ethics of mobility informed by social sciences.
The international conference will be held on March 20 and 21, 2014 – University Paris Descartes
Conveners
Speranta Dumitru (Université Paris Descartes), Solange Chavel (Université de Poitiers, France), Patrick Turmel (Université Laval, Québec).
Confimed speakers
Peter Adey (University of London), Chris Bertram (University of Bristol), Catherine de Wenden (CERI, Sciences Po), Vincent Kaufmann (Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne), Stéphanie Souche (LET, Lyon II)
Submission guidelines
Abstracts (500 words) clarifying the concept of mobility and related notions and/or analyzing the values judgments about mobility
should be submitted by November 10, 2013
Scientific Committee:
- Speranta Dumitru (CERSES & U. Paris Descartes)
- Solange Chavel (U. Poitiers)
- Patrick Turmel (U. Laval, Québec)
Subjects
Places
- Université Paris Descartes
Paris, France (75)
Date(s)
- Sunday, November 10, 2013
Keywords
- mobilité, migration, voyage, nomadisme, mobilité résidentielle, transports, équité
Contact(s)
- Speranta Dumitru
courriel : mig [dot] dev2017 [at] gmail [dot] com - Solange Chavel
courriel : solangechavel [at] gmail [dot] com - Patrick Turmel
courriel : patrick [dot] turmel [at] fp [dot] ulaval [dot] ca
Information source
- Speranta Dumitru
courriel : mig [dot] dev2017 [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Mobility: concepts and values », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, October 07, 2013, https://calenda.org/261075
