Parent–child mobility practices: revealing ‘cracks’ in the automobility system

ABSTRACT

Many commentators are concerned about automobility’s ill-effects and seek a shift away from auto dependence towards more sustainable transport. Little research, however, considers the ways that parent–child mobilities are linked to such a transition. Through the lens of social practice theory, this paper explores how parents travelling with young children preserve and challenge automobility as they enact auto dependency, multimodality and altermobility. The paper argues that it is vital to understand these practices for identifying ‘cracks’ in automobility and the possibility of more sustainable and equitable daily mobilities. The research is based on qualitative parent interviews undertaken in Vancouver (British Columbia).

KEYWORDS:

• Parent–child mobilities
• social practice
• automobility
• sustainable and equitable mobilities

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada under Grant number 410-2010-0206. My gratitude to Sylvia Parusel for her research assistance and colleagues who read earlier drafts of this paper: Gillian Creese, Sneja Gunew and Mary Lynn Stewart.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada under Grant number 410-2010-0206.