THE CENTRE
About Us
The Centre for Mobilities Research at Lancaster University (Directed by Nicola Spurling, Sociology and Co-Directed by Lynne Pearce, English and Creative Writing) researches how social life and human experience is made in and through movement.
This includes: studying flows of people, goods, resources and data at a global scale to reveal how social life (here and now) is constituted; studying the everyday movements in specific locales which shape and are shaped by the global phenomenon; exploring the movements of ideas, memories and stories over time; understanding the micro-movements of everyday practice. A focus on mobilities involves studying the movements of people, objects, capital, data, ideas and resources – often in relation to each other. It provides a new way of seeing and understanding the world.
For example, our current work on Societal Readiness is revealing the uneven impacts of proposed low carbon transport on specific places and groups; our work on Lifecourse and Climate Change is exploring how the movement of stories across generations might create more resilient communities, and is mobilising children’s agency in climate change policy-making; and our work on Gridding Equitable Futures in Cali, Colombia and Havanna, Cuba is focussed on understanding growth and change in off-grid informal settlements.
As these examples suggest, from 2020-2025 we are focussed on the Climate Emergency. During this period CeMoRe is extending and pioneering theories, methods and new empirical studies to shape socially just and ethically circumspect societal transformation. We are working across sectors and disciplines, including researchers, artists, designers, planners, the youth parliament and other communities; and with national and international partners (e.g. The Centre for Advanced Studies in Mobilities Humanities (MoHu), University of Padova, Italy; The Academy of Mobility Humanities (AMH), Konkuk University, South Korea; University of Sao Paulo, Brazil; Universidad del Valle, Colombia)
Our objectives 2020-2025 are:
- To contribute to deciphering the social and cultural challenges of the climate emergency by harnessing the unique insights of mobilities research
- To develop novel and creative responses to complex problems
- To facilitate collaboration between the various people, forms of knowledge and expertise that are needed to facilitate a socially just and ethically circumspect transformation
The Centre is home to the journal, Mobilities (established by Kevin Hannam, Mimi Sheller and John Urry in 2006) and two book series Changing Mobilities (Routledge) and Studies in Mobilities, Literature and Culture (Palgrave) which publish work by mobilities scholars from all over the globe.
CeMoRe History
CeMoRe was established in 2003 by founding directors Mimi Sheller and John Urry. It was directed by Monika Büscher with Lynne Pearce as Director of Humanities 2015-2019, and by Lynne Pearce 2019-2020. Sheller and Urry developed the New Mobilities Paradigm (2006) as a framework for reconceptualising the workings of contemporary society across multiple scales and applications, while Monika Büscher and other CeMoRe colleagues have pioneered novel methodologies to pursue mobilities research. CeMoRe has played a leading role in the development of ‘mobilities in the humanities’ and ‘art-mobilities’ and provided a hub for international mobilities scholarship. We are now part of a 1000+ strong international network on our global-mobilities mailing list and leading a programme on Climate Emergency Mobilities.
Join Our Network
Please join our global-mobilities network if you wish to hear about our events and work, and receive updates from other mobilities research centres and scholars around the world.