Dhan Zunino Singh,Guillermo Giucci,and Paola Jirón (eds),Términos clave para los estudios de movilidad en América Latina

Reviewed by: Raksha Vasudevan, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

The “mobilities turn” de-stabilized the emphasis on sedentarism prevalent in social science and humanities research. Scholars working within the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ conceptualize mobilities beyond physical movement, articulating greater ontological and epistemological possibilities to understand social phenomena as ‘on the move.’ Rather than aimed at developing a totalizing discourse, mobility studies call on descriptions of context-specific mobile arrangements of people, objects, ideas, and networks in what Mimi Sheller and John Urry (p. 212) describe as “fluid interdependence”. ¹ Importantly, mobilities studies has also necessitated alternative and creative methods to articulate these dynamic temporal and spatial relationships.

This edited collection provides a critical contribution by situating mobilities studies in Latin America. Zunino Singh, Giucci, and Jirón have curated a set of pieces that acknowledge the breadth and potentials of mobilities studies to speak to Latin America’s cultural, historical, and socio-political nuances. As a foundational compilation on Latin American mobilities, the editors have carefully chosen key words or concepts well-developed in mobilities studies, but also relevant to the Latin American context. Given that mobilities theory has primarily been discussed and developed in ‘global north’ contexts, this work can be understood as part of a larger political project that extends the geographies of theory by interrogating and reconstructing conceptual categories from perspectives in the “global south”.

Structured as a thesaurus, each chapter introduces the theoretical genealogy of a concept. Widely recognized concepts such as “circulation”, “tourism and mobility”, “residential mobility” and “sustainable transport” are included, as well as concepts such as “migrations”, “accessibility”, “passengers”, and “children’s mobilities” that shed light on the everyday mobilities of particular groups of people. Additionally, concepts such as “networks”, “move with objects”, and “circulation” expand the conversation beyond people-centered mobilities to speak to flows more generally. By weaving together the theoretical and historical application of the concepts, each chapter provides an entrée into mobilities literature for those who are unfamiliar. A concluding section in each chapter reframes the contribution of this work for contemporary Latin American contexts. The book’s structure, which includes a robust bibliography (42 pages) at the conclusion, begs the reader to conceptualize how mobilities experiences in Latin America can challenge, redefine, and influence mobilities theories more generally. Importantly, many of the words and terms chosen (e.g. “gender”, “right to mobility”, “immobility”) shed light on issues of power, oppression, and inequality in Latin America. In other words, the structure of the book enables a conversation across very different contexts, while calling for situated examples of mobilities experiences.

Relatedly, the authors note in the introduction that a primary motive of the book is to distinguish mobilities as an object of study from mobilities as “an approach, theoretical framework, or perspective to understand the social, territorial, environmental, and political processes” (p.15). Conceptualizing mobilities as an approach calls for interdisciplinarity, and is well-reflected in the inclusion of scholars, students, and professionals in Political Science, Anthropology, History, Sociology, Geography, History, Civil Engineering, and English, amongst others. The interdisciplinarity of the mobilities project provides an opportunity to develop languages and frames of understanding across disciplines and scales, as is evidenced in the equal attention given to, for example, “aeromobility”, “residential mobility”, and “walking”. The collection reveals the unique potential of mobilities to hold space for productive conversations across disciplines and scales.

The format of the book does not come without its challenges. Few selections (e.g. “performance”, “rhythm analysis” and “place in movement”) adequately explore methodological contributions and possibilities, yet methods are a critical contribution of mobilities studies more generally. This collection almost necessitates a second volume that focuses solely on how to incorporate mobilities into research design and methodologies to complement the conceptual propositions in this collection. Additionally, while at times spotlighting other countries, the authors hail from a handful of Latin American countries (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile), excluding parts of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. To avoid homogenizing discourses and develop more situated descriptions of Latin American mobilities, future editions might provide additional points of view. Overall, this edited collection is a seminal contribution that opens the possibilities of developing useful conversations within Latin America and across contexts more generally.