(Im)mobility and Environment–Society Relations: Arguments for and Against the 'Mobilisation' of Environmental Sociology [chapter]

Henrike Rau
2010 Environmental Sociology  
Physical (im)mobility is central to many interactions between human society and the biophysical world. The chapter presents arguments for and against the 'mobilisation' of environmental sociology. Drawing on Urry's (2000Urry's ( , 2007 'new mobilities paradigm', it asks how such a 'mobility turn' might affect the conceptual and methodological focus of this sub-discipline, including its ability to challenge more conventional, anthropocentric approaches to sociological theory and research. It
more » ... es that a preoccupation with mobility, while beneficial in many ways, can eclipse more 'static' (or at any rate more 'a-mobile') influences on social life such as the continued impact of national political institutions on citizens' social and physical (im)mobility and the regulation of social-environmental change. Environmental sociology, a field of inquiry committed to the systematic study of environment-society relations, seems ideally positioned to address some of these mobility issues, and in turn benefit from sociological approaches that take mobility seriously. Turner BS (2007) The enclave society: towards a sociology of immobility. Eur J Soc Theory 10:287-304 Turner BS (2006) Classical sociology and cosmopolitanism: a critical defence of the social. Br J Sociol 57:133-151 Urry J (1981) Sociology as a parasite: some vices and virtues. In: Abrams P, Deem R, Finch J, Rock P (eds) Practice and progress:
doi:10.1007/978-90-481-8730-0_14 fatcat:xg3vpodrzrg57hfixxclhdb76u