The Alexander von Humboldt Lectures Series:

CULTURE(S) OF MOBILITY

a lecture series on the mobility turn in Human Geography

Programme
The Department of Human Geography at the Radboud University of Nijmegen cordially invites you to our Lecture and Seminar Series on the theme of ‘Culture(s) of Mobility’. See also http://socgeo.ruhosting.nl/humboldt

Click here for a more detailed description of this programme.

Lectures and Seminars
The following Alexander von Humboldt Guests take part in our programme:

Prof. Peter Peters (Department of Philosophy, University of Maastricht, NL)
Prof. Vincent Kaufmann (Department of Sociology, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH)
Prof. Guy Baeten (Department of Geography, Lund University, Sweden)
Prof. Tim Cresswell (Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, UK)
Prof. John Urry (Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK)
 

Prof. Peter Peters (Department of Philosophy, University of Maastricht, NL)
Alexander von Humboldt Lecture: “Travel Time in Technological Cultures”
 
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, 17:30-19:30
Gymnasion
Heyendaalsweg 141
6525 AJ Nijmegen
Room GN3
Map of campus
Detail
Free entry

Abstract: Travel takes time. And because we experience time as scarce, innovations in the way we travel generally aim at reducing the amount of time a journey takes. In this lecture, I will challenge the basic assumption underlying this line of thinking, the idea that the time spent travelling can be reduced to a neutral and measured unity which can be saved if we speed up. The core of my argument is that travel not only takes time, but that it also makes time. In examining every day travel practices, I argue that travel time can also be understood as the product of situated transit practices. Thus I hope to provide a pragmatic understanding of the way people actually travel in order to open up new perspectives on both mobility innovations and on the study of travel in technological cultures.
Along with transportation economists, urban planners, social geographers and traffic engineers, I argue that travel time is of pivotal importance for grasping the character of the problems of increased mobility. Economic and geographical models that explain and calculate travel demand using quantifiable unit of time shape the vocabulary we have at our disposal to discuss mobility problems and their solutions. Yet this vocabulary has its limits when used to explain the success and failure of mobility innovations. Recently, greater emphasis has been given to local processes of daily travel, developments in transportation and communications infrastructures, and the cultures related to mobility.
In my lecture, I contribute to this emerging field by analysing and studying ‘mobilities’ as practices of travel. The word ‘travel’ has different meanings. It refers not just to a state of mobility, but to a meaningful activity that has a long cultural and social history. It not only engenders a movement in space and time, but also assumes the subjectivity of experiences as well as the inter-subjectivity of texts and discourses. In my practice-oriented approach, travel cannot reduced to getting from A to B as quickly and as smoothly as possible - the underlying assumption in mainstream transportation research vocabularies on mobility - but instead, travel has to be treated as an integrated part of everyday life, as a ‘normal’ practice.
In order to travel, I claim, we need to construct ‘passages’ that produce a situated relation between time and space. How this is achieved in practice can be described on three levels. As heterogeneous orders, passages assume both material and discursive elements. As planned yet contingent orders, they must be ‘repaired’ continuously in real time. And as orders that both include and exclude people, places and moments in time, they are inherently political and have to be justified and legitimated. This conceptual framework enables us to examine innovations in travel in a new way: how can they be conceived of as passages? How are passages created? What are the politics of these new passages? In designing and innovating passages, travel time is constructed. Shorter travel times can therefore never be a sufficient argument for mobility innovations; instead we should envision different possible passages and present them as argued choices, not between different speeds, but between different ‘worlds’.

Prof. Vincent Kaufmann (Department of Sociology, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH)
Alexander von Humboldt Lecture: “Re-thinking mobility”

Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010, 17:30-19:30
Gymnasion
Heyendaalsweg 141
6525 AJ Nijmegen
Room GN3
Map of campus
Detail
Free entry

Abstract: Since the Second World War, it is true that we go faster and farther; but, practically speaking, our journeys on a day-to-day basis take more and more time. This has been the experience of many; identities that were once upon a time locally rooted have now become multiple and cosmopolitan. Low-cost travel options have also left their mark on the economy by contributing to its globalisation and transforming modes of production. With the context as such, it is no longer possible to think of nation-states as autonomous societies vis-à-vis one another, nor of geographical areas as homogenous spaces cordoned off by distinct borders. In short, the conditions under which movement takes place has changed and is still changing the world – a world that is living what many social scientists call the ‘mobility turn’. This mobility turn is at the heart of global change, acting upon all aspects of economic, political and social life. Practically speaking, it results in the unprecedented growth of transportation and telecommunications flows. This growth brings with it various problems at the practical level such as: chronic traffic jams of roadways, railways and airports; environmental problems ranging from atmospheric and sonic pollution to in-ground waste; and problems of energy consumption. In cities in particular this means problems of social and spatial cohesion the likes of which have never been seen, problems with the cognitive management of information, and finally an increase in societal friction (multicultural tensions, local and global struggles). Many experts (oft times engineers) have offered potential solutions to these different problems, but these solutions are for the most part limited, controversial and more often than not seek to treat the consequences rather than going straight to the source of the problem. Acting on mobility production supposes having identified the logics of action that underlie movement (the motives and the means of mobility: why do we move? how?) and their impact (what are the results of movement in terms of space? how, in return, does urban layout influence movement?) Only once we have taken an in-depth look at the mobility conditions of today can we offer innovative solutions to the question, ‘How can we act upon “why” and “how” people move?’ These are key questions in mobility research – questions that are central to my own research activities and which enable me to rethink contemporary urban dynamics (social, geographical and political) in an original way. Giving relevance to these questions supposes two pre-conditions:
1. It is crucial to not confine mobility analysis to notion of transportation alone. Transportation, whether of objects or individuals, stem more often than not from a need rooted in human activities. Returning to the rationales that regulate movement subsequently leads to an exploration of their political and social consequences, allowing for an in-depth analysis of the structure and functioning of contemporary societies. In other words, it is not only a question of considering changes in lifestyles (pluralism, individualism, etc.) but also the new social and technical forms that prompt them (evolution of economic structures, technological innovation, changes in values, etc.) and the issues they give rise to (new forms of inequality, opportunities, physical tension, socio-cultural conflicts, etc.)
2. It is important to develop appropriate conceptual tools to tackle the ‘mobility turn’. The extent of this turn is so important that movements – their why, how and the way they change landscapes and societies – can no longer be fully understood with static notions, externals to social actors. The broadening of transportation options has indeed introduced new realms of choices at the centre of everyday life (about residential location, utilisation of transportation means, amenities). Such choices suppose individuals will use of technical skills and have enough imagination to appropriate technical systems to be able to benefit from them for their personal and collective (i.e. entrepreneurial) plans. Technical and social innovations are constantly changing the access and competency that enable mobility. This results in the fact that individuals and social groups must continually and imperatively adapt. The main challenge now facing research at this level consists in developing tools capable of describing and analysing mobility and its social and spatial implications, the goal being to equip ourselves with the necessary means of action for dealing with it without having a negative impact at the territorial, economic, social or environmental levels.

Research Seminar with Prof. Vincent Kaufmann
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Together with Prof. Vincent Kaufmann we discuss his current research programme and ideas for future research. As kick-off for this discussion Prof. Vincent Kaufmann will (briefly) present his current research and topical issues in the academic debate. At the same time we will discuss the questions directed to Prof. Kaufmann by the other Humboldt Lecturers in this series. Prof. Peter Peters and/or his assistent Sanneke Kloppenburg will accompany us in these discussions throughout the whole series.

PhD./Researchers Workshop with Prof. Vincent Kaufmann
Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Researchers present their own research work (in progress) and discuss this with Prof. Vincent Kaufmann and with the audience. Internal and external researchers and PhD-students are cordially invited to participate. Especially also PhD-students or Researchers from the inter-university networks NETHUR and TRAIL are kindly invited. To present and discuss your research please register in advance with Prof. Huib Ernste (h.ernste@fm.ru.nl)

Prof. Guy Baeten (Department of Geography, Lund University, Sweden)
Alexander von Humboldt Lecture: “Contradictions of Mobility and Degenerate Utopias in Post-Political Times”
 
Wednesday, March. 10, 2010, 17:30-19:30
Room to be announced
Free entry

Abstract: Mobility, both at global and local scales, is caught in a set of contradictions that seem increasingly difficult to solve under contemporary political conditions. First, while the Orient is experiencing the establishment of mass motorized transport, comparable to the ‘golden age’ of Fordism in occidental countries in the 50s and 60s, the scientific and political communities (of the west) are warning for insurmountable global environmental problems caused by the explosion of motorized transport. Second, in times when grand environmental envisioning is needed to tackle those planetary challenges, the appeal of established environmental visions such as ‘sustainability’ is slowly crumbling. The degeneration of intellectual certainties of the recent past makes it near to impossible to frame mobility problems and mobilize response. Third, it seems that the gap between those who are empowered by transport possibilities, and those who are disempowered by the lack of them, continues to widen. The (re)production of divides based on gender, class, race and ethnicity through the removal of mobility barriers for some and the creation of mobility barriers for others, urgently needs to be readdressed. Finally, inspired by the works of Rancière, Swyngedouw and Dikeç, it will be investigated how a search for ‘mobility justice’ is possible in post-political times.

Research Seminar with Prof. Guy Baeten
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Together with Prof. Guy Baeten we discuss his current research programme and ideas for future research. As kick-off for this discussion Prof. Guy Baeten will (briefly) present his current research and topical issues in the academic debate. At the same time we will discuss the questions directed to Prof. Guy Baeten by the other Humboldt Lecturers in this series. Prof. Peter Peters and/or his assistent Sanneke Kloppenburg will accompany us in these discussions throughout the whole series.

PhD./Researchers Workshop with Prof. Guy Baeten
Friday, March. 12, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Researchers present their own research work (in progress) and discuss this with Prof. Guy Baeten and with the audience. Internal and external researchers and PhD-students are cordially invited to participate. Especially also PhD-students or Researchers from the inter-university networks NETHUR and TRAIL are kindly invited. To present and discuss your research please register in advance with Prof. Huib Ernste (h.ernste@fm.ru.nl)

Prof. Tim Cresswell (Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, UK)
Alexander von Humboldt Lecture: "On Turbulence"

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 17:30-19:30
Gymnasion
Heyendaalsweg 141
6525 AJ Nijmegen
Room GN3
Map of campus
Detail
Free entry

Abstract: This paper considers the importance of the notion of turbulence for the theorisation of mobility. Turbulence is the product of friction between different kinds of flow. It can be contrasted with smooth ‘laminar’ flow – where everything is moving ‘correctly’. This paper borrows from physics and mathematics as well as the philosophies of Michel Serres and Manuel Delanda to think about turbulence as a process which makes visible the orderings of infrastructural mobilities. The issue of turbulence – incorrect and unpredictable mobilities – will be at the heart of the paper which will form a discussion of turbulent mobilities in a number of different instances, illustrated by examples from the vagrants of medieval Europe to the shipping of containers and the infrastructure of the Internet. I will contrast the smooth operation of infrastructural mobilities that are supposed to remain silent and invisible with the dramatic and very visible instances of turbulence, that no system can ever predict or make disappear, which provides an entry point into the ordering of a mobile world.
 

Research Seminar with Prof. Tim Cresswell
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Together with Prof. Tim Cresswell we discuss his current research programme and ideas for future research. As kick-off for this discussion Prof. Tim Cresswell will (briefly) present his current research and topical issues in the academic debate. At the same time we will discuss the questions directed to Prof. Tim Cresswell by the other Humboldt Lecturers in this series. Prof. Peter Peters and/or his assistent Sanneke Kloppenburg will accompany us in these discussions throughout the whole series.

PhD./Researchers Workshop with Prof. Tim Cresswell
Friday, March 26, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Researchers present their own research work (in progress) and discuss this with Prof. Tim Cresswell and with the audience. Internal and external researchers and PhD-students are cordially invited to participate. Especially also PhD-students or Researchers from the inter-university networks NETHUR and TRAIL are kindly invited. To present and discuss your research please register in advance with Prof. Huib Ernste (h.ernste@fm.ru.nl)

Prof. John Urry (Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK)
Alexander von Humboldt Lecture: “After the Car”

Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 17:30-19:30
Gymnasion
Heyendaalsweg 141
6525 AJ Nijmegen
Room GN3
Map of campus
Detail
Free entry

Abstract: An examination of the path dependence of the car system which has so dominated the twentieth century. In some ways that century has been the ‘century of the car’. In this paper I examine the array of small changes occurring throughout the world that indicate the possibilities that a post-car system is in process of emergence. Is such a post-car personal vehicle system in process of being formed? When and how could the steel-and-petroleum car be superseded? What might be the small changes that could provoke such a new system to be established?

Research Seminar with Prof. John Urry
Thursday, April 22, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Together with Prof. John Urry we discuss his current research programme and ideas for future research. As kick-off for this discussion Prof. John Urry will (briefly) present his current research and topical issues in the academic debate. At the same time we will discuss the questions directed to Prof. John Urry by the other Humboldt Lecturers in this series. Prof. Peter Peters and/or his assistent Sanneke Kloppenburg will accompany us in these discussions throughout the whole series.

PhD./Researchers Workshop with Prof. John Urry
Friday, April 23, 2010, 10:45-12:30
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
Room 3.00.27
Free entry

Researchers present their own research work (in progress) and discuss this with Prof. John Urry and with the audience. Internal and external researchers and PhD-students are cordially invited to participate. Especially also PhD-students or Researchers from the inter-university networks NETHUR and TRAIL are kindly invited. To present and discuss your research please register in advance with Prof. Huib Ernste (h.ernste@fm.ru.nl)