Suchergebnisse

This article presents the results from an experimental project in Jyväskylä, Finland, in which five 'pioneer households' aimed to reduce their environmental impacts by a variety of trials in different domains of daily consumption. The article analyses this 'home lab' experiment from a practice-theoretical perspective, focusing particularly on everyday mobility and the social interplay that occurs in mobility practices in different contexts. In so doing, the article explores the reasons behind the various outcomes of experimentation and discusses the potential of such experimentation to facilitate transformation in mobility practices. The results suggest that in order to shift daily mobility onto a more sustainable path, the social dynamics related to mobility practices should be better addressed. For example, the negotiations both inside and outside the participating households proved important in challenging the ways of doing mobility. Moreover, the potential for the diffusion of alternative mobility practices was shown to depend on a variety of factors that maintained the normality and acceptability of private driving. Utilising practice-theoretical insights in living laboratories can open new areas for experimentation and facilitate understanding of the shift in everyday practices towards greater sustainability.

Abstract:
Chinese migrants now constitute the largest group of registered 'foreigners' in Japan, with over 600,000 documented in 2006. This is the result of an intersection between the Chinese government's drive for educational and economic success, and Japan's flexible student visa labour system. It is the product of a 'normalization' of mobility amongst young mobile Chinese. Based on 20 months fieldwork in Tokyo, Japan, I explore the ways in which the decision to move is experienced as mundane, and how it is negotiated as a form of 'everyday practice.' Through this lens, this article posits multiple relationships between mobility, its limits and how this relates to mobile people's sense of place in the world.

Transportation plays a key role in the Swiss energy transition. One third of people's trips correspond to commuting to and from work. In Swiss cities, ca. one third of commuters live in the same city where they work and thus have relatively short commuting distances. Nontheless, 50% of the trips of less than 5km are made using an individual motorised vehicle.

The aim of this study is to analyse urban commuters' modal choices and what plays into their everyday mobility practices. It focuses on commuters who live close to their workplace. In the context of this study, we aim to better understand into which values, spatio-temporal constraints and material conditions mobility practices are embedded, as well as how mobility practices change.

Purpose To investigate car use among newly retired people, to explore to what extent car transport is used for everyday mobility and how it is valued in comparison to other transport modes. Methods The data consists of travel diaries and qualitative interviews with 24 individuals, aged between 61 and 67, living in a middle-sized Swedish city. They were recruited via the local branch of one of the main associations of pensioners, one large employer in the municipality, and through another study. The informants filled in a travel diary during 1 week that were analysed by VISUAL- TimePAcTS, an application for visualising and exploring activity diary data. The semi-structured qualitative interviews were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. Results The car was used for several trips daily and often for short trips. The informants had a lot of everyday projects that they would not be able to perform if they did not have access to a car. The importance of the car does not seem to have changed upon retirement, albeit it is partly used for other reasons than before. The informant's social context implies new space-time constraints. Commitments to family members, engagement in associations and spouses' occupations affect how much and when they use the car, and their overall mobility. Conclusions In contrast to much research on older people's mobility that has studied slightly older people, this study have focused on a specific group that are relatively healthy, well-off, and have the possibility to choose between different modes of transport. By combining travel diaries and qualitative interviews, we have explored how newly retired people reason as regard their travel behaviour but also how they actually travel. Although the car was used more than other transport modes, being able to walk and cycle now that they had more time as retirees was highly valued. Our results indicate that urban residents that are retiring now and in the future are a key target group in transport planning when it comes to reduce car use in favour of slow modes of transport. ; Funding agencies: Vinnova-Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems; Vinnova

"Alltagsmobilität - die Mobilität in der näheren Wohnumgebung - gilt in der aktuellen Mobilitätsforschung als ein wesentliches Fundament gesellschaftlicher Teilhabe. Zahlreiche Studien verweisen darauf, dass sie mit zunehmendem Alter sinkt, was dementsprechend mit einem Verlust an gesellschaftlicher Integration und sinkender Lebensqualität assoziiert wird. Dennoch existieren bislang keine Erkenntnisse darüber, wie dieser Prozess auf der Subjektebene konkret gestaltet wird, wie Veränderungen vor dem Hintergrund welcher (räumlichen) Wahrnehmungen und Überzeugungen von den Individuen initiiert werden. Hier setzt die dem Beitrag zugrunde liegende Untersuchung an: Das Ziel ist es, auf der Basis einer qualitativ orientierten Untersuchung herauszuarbeiten, wie Veränderungen der Mobilität im Kontext der subjektiven Konstruktionsleistungen und Handlungen der Älteren in einer gegenstandsorientierten Theorie gefasst und erklärt werden können. In einem zweiten Schritt werden prospektiv Thesen darüber entwickelt, in welcher Weise der Einsatz eines technischen Hilfsmittels - eines 'Mobilitätsassistenten', der im Rahmen eines vom BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) geförderten Projekts entwickelt wird - auf die Wahrnehmungen und Überzeugungen der Älteren Einfluss nehmen und darauf aufbauend deren Mobilität fördern könnte." (Autorenreferat)

AbstractThis article investigates the pragmatic, everyday journeys of South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda's Palabek Refugee Settlement through a mobilities-focused analytical lens. Despite the repatriation of vast numbers of refugees, little is known about the diversity of refugees' later movements. Recognition of this complexity is important. Although many of our South Sudanese interlocutors take part in multiple interconnected movements both within and across borders, these are frequently irregular and unpredictable. We define these refugees' 'pragmatic mobilities' as 'the experience and practice of multiple, distinct yet interconnected mobilities, despite trying times and unknowable circumstances', thereby attending to the fractured (dis)junctures between these journeys as well as to their full temporal and geographical scope. By setting the practice and experience of South Sudanese refugees' ongoing and everyday mobilities within wider personal and regional historical perspectives, we argue that the diversities within these refugees' 'pragmatic mobility' practices demonstrate powerful manifestations of agency. We consequently understand these movements to be essential elements within everyday—yet crucial—practices to gain and maintain personal and collective control in otherwise uncertain contexts.

Anlässlich der aktuellen Debatte um den Übergang von der automobilen zur multimodalen Gesellschaft, in der es um eine Abkehr von der weitgehend exklusiven Nutzung des privaten Automobils hin zur flexiblen Nutzung mehrerer Verkehrsmittel geht, wird mit dem vorliegenden Beitrag der sonst vor allem in der Soziologie verwendete Multioptionalitätsbegriff in die Verkehrs- und Mobilitätsforschung übersetzt. Ziel ist es, die im Subtext der Übergangsdebatte mitgeführte potenzielle Ubiquität multimodaler Verhaltensweisen kritisch zu betrachten. Dafür wird Multioptionalität als Voraussetzung für multimodales Verhalten konzeptualisiert, womit innerhalb des Forschungsfeldes eine Perspektivverschiebung von der tatsächlichen hin zur potenziellen Verkehrsmittelwahl angestoßen wird. Die Qualität dieser Perspektivverschiebung wird im Beitrag mithilfe eines Dreischritts aus zwei Narrativen und einem Konzeptvorschlag herausgearbeitet: i) Ein Reflexivitätsnarrativ, wonach die hierarchisch organisierte Ordnung von Verkehrsmitteln innerhalb moderner Alltagsmobilität - das heißt dem privaten Automobil als dominante Option und allen anderen Verkehrsmitteln als rezessive Optionen - zunächst enthierarchisiert zu werden scheint. ii) Ein Regressionsnarrativ, wonach großen Bevölkerungsteilen zunehmend die optionalen Grundlagen zur gesellschaftlichen Teilhabe auf der Basis von Mobilität entzogen werden. Hier scheint eine Nonoptionalität Multioptionalität entgegenzulaufen und die Möglichkeiten zu multimodalen Verhaltensweisen zu unterbinden. iii) Die Ausformulierung eines konzeptionellen Vorschlags zur Integration des Multioptionalitätsbegriffs in die empirisch angelegten Studien zu multimodalem Verhalten, um auf diese Weise ein kritisches Korrektiv in der Übergangsdebatte zur multimodalen Gesellschaft zu verstetigen.