Call for Chapters: Mapping, Measuring and Modelling Mobility: A Global Comparison

Call for Chapters

Mapping, Measuring and Modelling Mobility: A Global Comparison

Xiaoge Xu and Amira Halperin

University of Nottingham Ningbo China

This call invites new research perspectives of mobile and global human mobility. The aim of the book is to shed light on mobility, international and internal migration and mobile technology, from an interdisciplinary perspective. We embrace the use of qualitative, quantitative and mixed research methods.

Background

Emerging technology assisted solutions have become critical in the context of migration. Even more so, following the COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of migrants due to inadequate health care, worse economic conditions, and overcrowded living conditions. As social distancing became the norm, with the breakout of COVID-19, there was an immediate and urgent need to shift the focus of migrants support from face to face interactions to provision of online services. As well as, mobile technology became dominant tool in monitoring human mobility, generating mobility statistics, and in migration governance. Alongside the utopian approach to mobile, there are major challenges, including internet connectivity, digital literacy, misinformation, cyber security, privacy, and resources.

To examine mobility in the new global context, especially after the breakout of COVID-19, it is imperative to redefine it. In our re-definition, mobility refers to movements of human activities from one place to another across borders and boundaries of all kinds, be it offline, online or mobile. Mobility results in endless and different processes and outcomes of interactive, integrative and influential human activities. Mobility occurs in different dimensions, directions and densities. Interdisciplinary in nature, mobility should be examined from integrated disciplinary perspectives such as human geography, sociology, psychology, political economy, politics, media studies, and communication studies. Mobility can be investigated in terms of its dimensions, directions, densities, interactions, integrations and influences of movements of human activities, ranging from human migration to news flows.

To map, measure, and model similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses, inter-connections and inter-influences, as well as currents and trends in mobility’s dimensions, directions, densities, interactions, integrations and influences in this ever-changing global mobility, we invite chapter contributors to focus on the following broadly defined areas: Mapping Mobility, Measuring Mobility, and Modelling Mobility. Mapping refers to the efforts to locate where mobility stands in terms of its interactions, integrations and influences. Measuring refers to the efforts to gauge the levels of mobility in terms of its interactions, integrations and influences. Modelling mobility refers to the efforts to describe, explain and predict mobility in terms of its interactions, integrations and influences. Interactions, integrations and influences are shaped and changed by different factors.