Call for Papers, Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers, April 14-18, 2010 – Washington, DC.

Exploring Innovations and Transgressions in Tourism Mobilities/Immobilities.

Convenors: Professor Kevin Hannam (University of Sunderland), Dr Jan Mosedale (University of Sunderland), Cody Paris (Arizona State University).
 
Sponsored by Taylor and Francis Publishers and the Recreation, Tourism and Sport Specialty Group of the AAG.

Mimi Sheller and John Urry (2004: 1) wrote in their book Tourism Mobilities: “We refer to ‘tourism mobilities’, then, not simply to state the obvious (that tourism is a form of mobility), but to highlight thatmany different mobilities inform tourism, shape the places where tourism is performed, and drive the making and unmaking of tourist destinations.
Mobilities of people and objects, airplanes and suitcases, plants and animals, images and brands, data systems and satellites, all go into ‘doing’ tourism. … Tourism mobilities involve complex combinations of movement and stillness, realities and fantasies, play and work.”

Research into tourism mobilities has, to date, primarily focused upon the impact of new technologies and modes of transport and related changing social and cultural practices as well as the creation of new ‘mobile’ places such as airports and internet cafés – with little regard for both alternative innovations and transgressions within mobilities/immobilities (Cresswell, 2006; Hannam et al., 2006).

This call for papers, then, looks to examine some of the more neglected aspects of tourism mobilities, in order to understand creative and innovative as well as transgressive and abject mobile practices that are constitutive of contemporary tourism. However, we are also seeking research that examines what happens when things break down in the very ‘doing’ of tourism and both the immobilities and new innovative or transgressive mobilities that may then ensue. Hence, we would like to suggest papers that engage theoretically with the new mobilities paradigm and which examine one or more of the following themes:

-Tourism, Creativity & Innovations in Mobilities/immobilities
-Tourism, Greed & Excess in Mobilities/immobilities
-Tourism, Inequalities & Abjection in Mobilities/immobilities
-Tourism, Risk & Health in Mobilities/immobilities.
-Tourism, Crime & Terrorism in Mobilities/immobilities.

Please note the guidelines for presenters, available at:
http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2010/papers.htm

Please submit your abstract by October 16th 2009 to
kevin.hannam@sunderland.ac.uk or jan.mosedale@sunderland.ac.uk or cody.paris@asu.edu