Rights statement: The definitive publisher-authenticated version was published in Transfers 3 (1), 2013, is available online at:http://berghahn.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/berghahn/trans/2013/00000003/00000001/art00004
Submitted manuscript, 322 KB, PDF document
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Uncertain mobilities
T2 - a view from the past
AU - Pooley, Colin
N1 - The definitive publisher-authenticated version was published in Transfers 3 (1), 2013, is available online at:http://berghahn.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/berghahn/trans/2013/00000003/00000001/art00004
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - Contemporary society assumes high levels of unimpeded mobility, and disruptions to the ability to move quickly and easily can cause considerable concern. This paper examines the notion of mobility uncertainty and disruption from an historical perspective, arguing that interruptions to mobility have long been a characteristic of everyday travel. It is suggested that what has changed is not so much the extent or nature of disruption, but rather the resilience of transport systems and societal norms and expectations about travel. Data are taken from five examples of life writing produced by residents of the United Kingdom during the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The texts are used to illustrate the travel problems encountered and the strategies adopted to deal with them. A concluding discussion examines these themes in the context of 21st century mobility.
AB - Contemporary society assumes high levels of unimpeded mobility, and disruptions to the ability to move quickly and easily can cause considerable concern. This paper examines the notion of mobility uncertainty and disruption from an historical perspective, arguing that interruptions to mobility have long been a characteristic of everyday travel. It is suggested that what has changed is not so much the extent or nature of disruption, but rather the resilience of transport systems and societal norms and expectations about travel. Data are taken from five examples of life writing produced by residents of the United Kingdom during the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The texts are used to illustrate the travel problems encountered and the strategies adopted to deal with them. A concluding discussion examines these themes in the context of 21st century mobility.
KW - Disruption
KW - travel
KW - resilience
KW - diaries
KW - weather
KW - family
KW - risk
U2 - 10.3167/tranS.2013.030104
DO - 10.3167/tranS.2013.030104
M3 - Journal article
VL - 3
SP - 26
EP - 44
JO - Transfers
JF - Transfers
SN - 2045-4821
IS - 1
ER -