What Comes After A Mobility Shock: As the coronavirus sweeps around the world, outpacing public health efforts to contain it, all human mobilities have been brought to an abrupt halt. People have stopped going to work, children are home from school, businesses close their doors,
2/ airplanes stop flying, cruise ships are turned away from ports, borders are closing, factories stop churning out products, and shipment of goods globally has vastly slowed. The governing regime of mobilities has been thrown into sudden disarray, and with it the world economy.
3/ Under these exigencies to de-mobilize our lives, we are forced to adopt new routines, new habits, and new ways of stilling ourselves, our economies, and our social interactions.
4/ On the heels of this global slow down there is also a shift toward new patterns and kinds of mobilities: evacuations of travelers returning from abroad, essential workers getting to their jobs by bike or walking, and university students moving out of their dormitories.
5/ Governors are calling for surge capacity, mobilizing the National Guard, and perhaps the military armed forces. Local communities are planning for drive-in virus testing, online working, delivery services, and logistical processes to re-fill grocery store shelves.
6/ As transportation and production seize up, and travel shuts down, the demand for fossil fuel is plunging. If airlines go bankrupt, if trucking is severely reduced, and consumers stop buying new cars, will this actually kickstart the transition away from fossil fuels?
7/ As countries seek to recover from this mobility shock, will we return to the high-mobility, high-energy, high-carbon economy of the past? Or will we begin the urgently needed shift to a low-carbon economy premised on more resilient, regenerative, circular forms of exchange?
8/ Could this be the push we needed to truly implement the low-carbon transition that scientists have warned us is necessary to stop the global climate emergency?
9/ While some might see this as the wrong time to worry about climate change -- in the midst of a viral emergency that needs immediate response -- for others these two things are connected. It is becoming clearer that the response to both share common elements.
10/ The Green New Deal calls for a massive transformation of our energy infrastructure, housing, transportation systems through public investment in renewable energy, efficiency, and low-carbon transportation. These proposals are exactly the kind of stimulus that could also help
11/ pull our economies out of the current slump, and build more resilient communities with greater social solidarity. While we are still in the midst of the immediate emergency response, it is also worthwhile to begin to envision and plan for our recovery and rebuilding process.
12/ Mobilities theory is crucial to this planning because we focus on low-carbon transitions and understanding how everyday social practices are embedded in complex systemic change. Changing the ways that we do mobilities will be crucial to the post-CoVid-19 world.
13/ And making sure we do so in a socially equitable and just way will be crucial to the future of the world. That's called #Mobility #Justice Mimi Sheller @VersoBooks versobooks.com/books/2901-mob…
