Abstract
Unlike the previous phylogenetic and sociogenetic focus, this chapter considers a different timescale: the life-course. By reflecting on how movement and migration define life trajectories, an argument is made that mobile lives are, at once, agentic lives. Even when personal mobility ‘fails’, its role in expanding our horizon remains. Forced and traumatic migration are discussed as extreme cases that illustrate the delicate balance between movement, possibility and impossibility in the life-course.
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Notes
- 1.
For more on this, see Glăveanu and Clapp (2018).
- 2.
For an example see Glăveanu and Sierra (2015).
- 3.
For another example, see Glăveanu (2015).
- 4.
To give an example of a manifesto published in a local journal, El Arriero, by community leader Luis Evelio in defence of the river Dormilón and against the construction of a hydroelectric power plant that would have depleted its waters:
We are the sons and daughters of the river Dormilón who, by making use of our legitimacy and the rights inscribed into the Constitution, today present ourselves in front of the competent environmental authority, to ask a reconsideration of decisions that affect our community interests in the PCH project (Pequeña Central Hidroeléctrica/Small Hydroelectric Plant) on the river Dormilón.
The river is a fundamental part of our cultural identity and, as such, without it we would lose our connection to the water, the forest and the earth. At the same time, many of our roots and ancestral values like solidarity, peaceful coexistence and dignity, would risk being harmed through ruptures and processes not well understood. We, the inhabitants of San Luis and of this region, who love our river, are bound today by spiritual and cosmic unity, a superior value that has no comparison with what is intended for our river.
In addition, today the river Dormilón is a structural axis around which the “social economy” of San Luis is organized. How many people come month after month to San Luis looking for the tranquillity and recreation possibilities offered by the river? Was this benefit taken into account before replacing it with other alternatives and economic interests? We see that the river Dormilón moves a great part of our local economy and will do so even more in the future if we keep our dreams clear and act to offer locals and visitors services of rural tourism in accordance to our values.
We emphasize this because we are sure that, in this way, we will keep alive our possibilities of development and public and communitarian alliances for the harmonious coexistence of all.
We only ask for just and responsible decisions regarding our community and offer, in advance, our gratitude. (my own translation from Spanish, in Glăveanu 2015, pp. 196–197)
- 5.
Vygotsky’s ‘first law of the imagination’ states in this regard that: ‘the creative activity of the imagination depends directly on the richness and variety of a person’s previous experience because this experience provides the material from which the products of fantasy are constructed. The richer a person’s experience, the richer is the material his imagination has access to’ (Vygotsky 2004, pp. 14–15).
- 6.
See Adey et al. (2014).
- 7.
See Fraser (2003).
- 8.
Jensen (2013, p. 3).
- 9.
Kellerman (2006, p. 2).
- 10.
Although people did get very creative even in this regard with accounts, for instance, of a man who ran an entire marathon on a 7 meters balcony or another one who trekked to Everest base camp by climbing stairs at home, both stories reported in the Guardian.
- 11.
See the article Why the coronavirus lockdown is making the internet stronger than ever by Will Douglas Heaven in Technology Review (7 April 2020).
- 12.
See the article Movies and TV shows about pandemics and disasters are surging in popularity on Netflix by Travis Clark on Business Insider (20 March 2020).
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
As noted by Fortier (2014, p. 64), ‘asylum seekers, refugees, displaced and forced migrants, so called “economic” migrants (which include migrant workers, skilled migrants, migrant investors, migrant professionals), spousal and family migrants, undocumented migrants, retirement migrants, “return” migrants, “trafficked” migrants, “queer” migrants. There are migrants who temporarily reside in the place of immigration, others who stay permanently, others who move between two or more places of residence’.
- 16.
See Nyers (2015).
- 17.
Nyers (2015, p. 34).
- 18.
See, for example, Fischer and Malmberg (2001).
- 19.
For example, Salazar (2011). See also a recent special issue on the topic of (im)mobility and imagination that will be published in Culture & Psychology, co-edited by Flavia Cangià and Tania Zittoun.
- 20.
For details, see Trifanescu (2015).
- 21.
Trifanescu (2015, p. 91).
- 22.
Trifanescu (2015, p. 92).
- 23.
Trifanescu (2015, p. 93).
- 24.
See Datta et al. (2008).
- 25.
See Hopkins and Hill (2008).
- 26.
See Ní Laoire et al. (2010).
- 27.
‘The living testimonies of these migrants reveal the continued significance and reinterpretation of African cultures and the values and practices between the country of origin and the newly adopted country. It explores the impact of migration on the lives, expectations and agency of people who have migrated and their descendants focusing on citizenship, belonging and intergenerational relations. Importantly, it embeds our understanding of migration firmly within the lived experiences and personal perspectives of African migrants’ (Roos et al. 2012, p. 65).
- 28.
For more arguments and empirical examples see Womersley (2020).
- 29.
- 30.
‘Comparative case studies of these migrants under duress confirm that the category of “refugee” is shaped by legal and administrative regimes following hidden agendas of protecting few refugees and excluding most of them. Against this background, we then highlight cases of migrants who shied away from using the refugee category even though they did experience violent persecution and a loss of protection’ (Weiß 2018, p. 115).
- 31.
‘Critical mobilities studies both focus attention on connections between mobility–fixity and structural inequalities and provide a more nuanced account of individual subjecthood that militates against caricatures and stereotypes that can themselves contribute to experiences of inequality and oppression’ (Rogaly 2015, p. 541).
- 32.
Rogaly (2015, p. 530).
- 33.
Gomberg-Muñoz (2016, p. 743).
- 34.
‘Human creativity that gives voice to the layered experience of a particular displacement is “dangerous in the best sense of the word” as displaced playwrights, artists, theatre troupes, journalists, poets, or groups of refugee-ed women intervene on any report that normalizes displacement (…) They are dangerous in that they challenge unquestioning adherence to official stories; they complicate news media sound bites that pass for authoritative reports. (…) As they articulate and give voice to the nuances of displacement, refugee-ed and internally displaced people subvert, for example, notions on which established laws for immigration are based, which render them invisible, passive, and speechless people’ (Coleman et al. 2012, pp. XXX–XXXI).
- 35.
And, in particular, how to avoid the dangers of thinking always in terms of ‘humanitarian assistance’ and develop participatory approaches and pedagogies that empower beneficiaries as co-designers of solutions (see Moser-Mercer et al. 2016).
- 36.
‘Key elements of a positive enabling environment for bottom-up innovation include: a) a permissive environment with the right to work and freedom of movement; b) access to connectivity including the internet and telecommunications; c) access to education and skills training; d) good infrastructure and transportation links; e) access to banking and credit facilities; f) transnational networks. We need to rethink the humanitarian system in order to provide a better enabling environment for innovation by crisis-affected communities, including refugees’ (Betts et al. 2015, p. 3).
- 37.
Cipolla (1972, p. 52).
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Glăveanu, V.P. (2020). Mobile Lives. In: Mobilities and Human Possibility. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52082-3_5
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