Personal Mobility: A Corporeal Dimension of Transnationalisation. The Case of Long-Distance Travel from Sweden

Abstract

Mobility is a key concept within recent social theorising on globalisation, transnationalisation of social relations, and new divisions of society. Mobility growth is also central to issues of global warming and the need for sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to elucidate empirically some properties of recent developments in international mobility. A theoretically informed understanding of changing patterns of long-distance travel is briefly outlined. This understanding is confronted with empirical findings concerning the actual development of international travel from Sweden during the 1990s. The findings confirm expected trends of further increasing intensity, extensity, and velocity in long-distance mobility. A tendency towards globalisation is observed, though an intraregional transnationalisation is the dominant process at work. It is concluded that an increasing short-term flexibilisation in people's use of time and space is a more important driving force behind the transnationalisation of mobility, than is the geographical extension of more enduring social relations. Influencing factors behind the social division of mobility are addressed by identifying the hypermobile segment of the population. Implications for the wider issues of globalisation and environmental sustainability are discussed.

A darker side of hypermobility

“…For example, in Sweden, just 3% of the population undertake nearly a quarter of all international journeys (Frändberg and Vilhelmson, 2003), whereas in France 5% of the population account for as much as 50% of the overall distances covered (Gössling et al, 2009). …”

“…Our analysis in terms of transport mode largely centres on the ills of frequent aeromobility, despite the car still dominating personal mobility at local and regional scales in more privileged nations (Frändberg and Vilhelmson, 2003). This skew derives from a relative neglect of the car in studies of business and leisure travel, where focus has instead been placed on aeroplanes and international travel.…”

“…The life-chances it affords are 'heavily skewed' also (Urry, 2012), with a minor share of highly mobile individuals accounting for a major proportion of the overall distances travelled (Gössling et al, 2009). This mobile elite is well connected to global networks, and have been described as 'hypermobile', with these hypermobile lifestyles closely but not exclusively linked to the practice of business travel (Frändberg and Vilhelmson, 2003).…”

Mode use in long-distance travel

“…Differences in mobility behavior are associated with aspects of gender. Although convergence has taken place in recent decades, there is still a measurable difference in mobility behavior between males and females in Germany (Holz-Rau, Scheiner, and Sicks 2014;Zumkeller et al 2005), as well as in other European countries (Frändberg and Vilhelmson 2003;Limtanakool, Dijst, and Schwanen 2006), with regard to long-distance travel frequencies or distances. However, these differences are less distinct among the young cohorts (IFMO 2011).…”

The influence of socioeconomic characteristics, land use and travel time considerations on mode choice for medium- and longer-distance trips

“…The increase in personal mobility plays an important role in the spatial transformation in advanced economies, where networks and activity patterns of individuals and organisations are increasingly stretched out in geographical terms (Frandberg and Vilhelmson, 2003). This increase in mobility has come about through technological innovations in transportation and rising levels of affluence, which have allowed people to travel farther within relatively constant travel time budgets (e.g., Schafer, 1998).…”