Mobility aims to take the pulse of this enormously expanded and energetic field. It explores the breadth of the disciplinary areas mobility studies now encompass, examining the diverse conceptual and methodological approaches wielded within the field, and explores the utility of mobility to illuminate a cornucopia of mobile lives: from the mass movements of individuals within global processes such as migration and tourism, to homelessness and war; from the entangled relations caught up in the movement of disease, people and aid across borders, to the inability of someone to cross over a road.

The new edition explores the more sustained elaboration of mobility studies within a wide variety of disciplinary approaches and subject matters. It echoes the growing internationalization of mobility research, reflected in diverse case studies from the Global South, South Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and so far under-represented perspectives from China, Australasia, post-socialist Eastern Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere. The book also features an additional chapter on mobility studies, to survey and explore the diverse quality of the field, and methodologies, in order to reflect the growing diversity of methodological approaches to mobilities, from walk-alongs and critical cartography to the mobile arts.

The book offers an accessible reading of the way mobility has been tackled and understood, neatly exploring and summarizing a topic that has exploded into different variations and nuances. The text allows scholars and students alike to grasp the central importance of 'mobility' to social, cultural, political, economic and everyday terrains by providing accessible writings on key authors within key ideas and case study boxes, suggested further readings and summaries, while at the same time making a significant contribution to scholarly writings and debates.

About the Author

Peter Adey is Professor of Human Geography at Royal Holloway University of London. He is the author and co-editor of six books and various articles, including Aerial Life: Mobilities, Subjects, Affects, Air, From Above (ed.) and The Routledge Handbook of Mobilities (ed.).

Reviews

"The revised edition to Mobility offers a clear and thorough introduction to the field of mobility studies. This indispensable overview takes readers on an expertly guided tour through the key concepts and crucial topics of study that have defined this vibrant field. Adey brings into conversation a wide range of historical and contemporary theorists from many disciplines and draws on a rich array of illustrative examples. Whether exploring the politics of mobility, urban infrastructures, borders and citizenship, mobile media or cultural meanings, he opens our eyes to the significance of differential mobility in shaping every aspect of life today."

Professor Mimi Sheller, Department of Sociology, Director at Center for Mobilities Research and Policy, Drexel University, USA

"Meticulously researched and updated to showcase the leading edge of contemporary mobilities scholarship, Mobility is truly a field-defining book. At a time when understanding the complexities of why and how things move or stay where they are is more vital than ever before, this book remains one of the most compelling travel guides to navigate this exciting, rapidly expanding field."

Dr David Bissell, School of Sociology, The Australian National University, Australia

"Mobility is a fantastic travel guide for anyone analyzing contemporary life. Peter Adey has a special talent for enabling a simultaneously philosophical and empirical appreciation of mobility that showcases how the study of im|mobilities can be richly productive of insight. As he embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of the movement of 'little' things like bacteria or CO2, and 'big' data, business and power, he connects tourism with offshoring, migration with securitization, elite mobilities with extraordinary rendition, everyday life, and the ideological and infrastructural moorings that differentially enable or constrain mobilities. An extremely useful book."

Professor Monika Buscher, Director Centre for Mobilities Research, Associate Director for the Institute for Social Futures, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK

"Peter Adey's Mobility has been the go-to reference work for students and researchers in our field. In this expanded second edition he continues to track the growing reach and consolidation of mobilities scholarship around the globe. Adey achieves what most of us can only aspire to. He manages to map the wealth of research this broad theoretical perspective has inspired, while maintaining a sense of the dynamism that has enabled the field to move on and surprise us. Mobility is a must-read for everyone interested in contemporary thinking in the Humanities and Social Sciences."

Associate Professor Georgine Clarsen, School of History and Social Inquiry, The University of Wollongong, Australia

Book Information
ISBN 9781138949010
Author Peter Adey
Format Paperback
Page Count 386
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 476g