Monika’s research explores the digital dimension of contemporary ‘mobile lives’. She combines qualitative, often ethnographic studies of everyday practices, social theory and design through mobile, experimental, ‘inventive’ engagement with industry and stakeholders. An analytical orientation to intersecting physical and virtual mobilities, blocked movements and immobilities of people, objects and information drives this work. Monika’s most recent research brings this perspective to the informationalization of large-scale multi-agency emergency response, which raises opportunities and challenges around social media-based public engagement, agile and ‘whole community’ approaches to disaster response, data sharing, data protection and privacy. 

I am interested in working with PhD candidates in the areas of sociology, media studies, mobilities research, science and technology studies and have particular research interests in: Mobilities, mobile technology, mobile media Science, technology, responsible research and innovation Digital media and online cultures Design, art, creativity Disaster, crisis, security

Monika Büscher is Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology, and Associate Director in the Centre for Mobilities Research at Lancaster University. She co-edits the book series Changing Mobilities.

Monika currently leads research on decarbonising transport, disaster mobilities and ethical, legal and social issues of IT innovation in a range of different projects.

Most recent publications 

Büscher, M., Cronshaw, C., Kirkbride, A., Spurling, N., 2023. Making Response-Ability: Societal Readiness Assessment for Sustainability Governance. Sustainability 15, 5140. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065140

Büscher, Monika; Clark, Julie; Colderley, Rosslyn; Kirkbride, Alistair; Larty, Joanne; McCulloch, Shona; Moody, Emma; Mullis, Elizabeth; Phillips, Ian; Vaudrey, William; Willshaw, Kate 2022 Cumbria 2037: Decarbonising Mobility Futures. Leeds: DecarboN8 Research Network

Büscher, Monika and Cronan Cronshaw. 2022. The Little Book of Societal Readiness. ImaginationLancaster, Lancaster University. ISBN 978-1-7397133-2-4

Cabalquinto, E.C.B., Büscher, M., 2022. Between existential mobility and intimacy 5.0: translocal care in pandemic times. Media, Culture & Society 01634437221119295. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221119295

Boersma, Kees, Monika Büscher, and Chiara Fonio. 2022. ‘Crisis Management, Surveillance, and Digital Ethics in the COVID-19 Era’. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 30 (1): 2–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12398.

Academic collaborations

Honorary Doctorate Roskilde University, Denmark

Member of journal editorial boards:

Mobilitieshttp://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmob20

Applied Mobilitieshttp://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rapm20

Frontiers: Disaster Communicationshttp://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/communication/section/disaster-communications

Further Information

Monika's theoretical orientation builds on phenomenology, pragmatism, ethnomethodology, workplace studies, science and technology studies, feminist theory, non-representational theory. Public sociology, participatory design, computer supported cooperative work, design studies and service design furnish epistemologies and methodologies for engagement with stakeholders.

The book series Changing Mobilities, which I edit together wih Peter Adey, invites contributions that address the empirical realities of changing mobilities and opportunities to inform design, policy and social change.

Please contact me at m.buscher@lancaster.ac.uk

Twitter @mbuscher

My Guidance and Feedback Hours are Mondays 10:30-11:30 and Tuesdays 11:30-12:30. I'm also happy to consider offering bespoke meetings outside my Guidance and Feedback Hours. Please book an appointment using this link.

My research explores the digital dimension of contemporary ‘mobile lives’ with a particular focus on: 

• everyday practices, especially distributed collaboration, collective intelligence, digital urbanism
• relational, affirmative ethics, IT ethics, informational mobilities and informational self-determination
• mobile, disclosive and 'inventive' methodologies
• co-production of research, policy, socio-technical innovation

My work combines social research with design and innovation. It involves close engagement with diverse collaborators from industry and diverse stakeholder organisations. It is interdisciplinary, experimental, engaged ‘public sociology’ designed to explore and shape socio-technical futures.

• Disasters, why do things go wrong?
• MA Mobilities, Society and Change
• Media in a Global Age

Lixiong Chen - Between Participation and Paternalism:
A Study of Weibo-based Networked Crisis Communication in China between 2010 and 2019

Cosmin Popan - Utopias of slow cycling. Imagining a bicycle system

Satya Savitzky - ‘Icy Futures’: Carving the Northern Sea Route

Paula Bialski - Becoming Intimately Mobile

Paula's Thesis has been published: Becoming Intimately Mobile. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Paula now works at Leuphania University

Jen Southern - Comobility: Distance and Proximity on the Move in Locative Art Practice

Jen now works at Lancaster University

Lucy Kimbell - An inventive practice perspective on designing

Lucy works as a an artist, service designer and scholar. http://www.lucykimbell.com 

Dr. Sergio Benicio (2009/10): Hypermobility

Dr Jamie O'Brien (2008/9) Honorary Research Fellow - now at EngD Centre in Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualisation Computer Science Department University College London