Europe Beyond Mobility: Mobilities, Social Cohesion and Political Integration

Mobility, which has represented a critical scientific category and political driver, is currently under strong public scrutiny: has mobility lost its potential for social cohesion and political integration? Europe Beyond Mobility: Mobilities, Social Cohesion and Political Integration assesses this question by focusing on the European integration process, conceptualized as a political project for the promotion of different flows of mobility.

Mobility has been a fundamental tool for territorial strength and political integration among European countries. Based on a realistic understanding of the potentials and limits of mobility, this book pleads for a ＂resonant mobility＂ in the interest of a renovated European integration process. It examines how, in opposition to those advocating for national borders and mobility restrictions, the EU needs to explore new regulatory models which limit mobility’s adverse social, economic, and environmental impacts and make accessible the benefits of alternative flow models. It also provides an analytical framework for the study of current trends of mobility limitation, migration restriction and re-bordering, and offers a complementary and innovative framework for the study of globalization.

Europe Beyond Mobility will be of interest to academics and students as well as policy makers and practitioners internationally in the fields of mobility, migration and border studies.

Vincent Kaufmann is Associate Professor of Urban sociology and mobility at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Since 2011, he is also scientific director of the Mobile Lives Forum in Paris. After a master degree in sociology (University of Geneva) he did his Ph.D. at EPFL on rationalities underlying transport modal practices. He has been invited lecturer at Lancaster University (2000-2001), Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris (2001-2002), Laval University, Québec (2008) Nimegen University (2010), Université de Toulouse Le Mirail (2011), Politechnico Milan (2016), Université Catholique de Louvain (2004-2018) and Tongji University in Shanghai (2018).

Ander Audikana is Seal of Excellence research fellow at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano (Italy). He obtained a B.A. in Sociology at the University of Deusto, a M.A. in City and Regional Planning at the University Paris 12 and the ENS Diploma in Urban Sociology at the École normale supérieure de Paris. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University Paris-Est. He was Fulbright-Schuman scholar in Urban Planning in the United States at George Mason University and at the University of California, Berkeley. He was also postdoctoral research fellow at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the University of Deusto.

Guillaume Drevon is currently working at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research - LISER - since 2021 as Research Associate. Guillaume Drevon is also an Associate Scientist at Urban Sociology Lab of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. He obtained a B.A. in Geography and a M.A. in Territorial Development and Planning at the University of Grenoble-Alpes. He obtained an AFR-PHD grant from the Luxembourg National Research Fund. He holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Grenoble-Alpes in partnership with the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-economic Research. A part of his research focuses on cross-border regions by developing an individual centered approach which reveals socio-spatial bridges across the border (attachment, identities, personal network, cross-border activities, cross-border past experiences).