Short Abstract

The panel explores how diverse forms of (im-)mobility shape rural places and communities. Using the concept of “moving locations”, it examines how mobility intersects with affects, materialities, politics of belonging and changing social positionalities.

Long Abstract

Various forms of (im-)mobility characterize rural areas: outmigration, immigration – be it international or internal migration –, urban to rural migration, return or commuting. In smaller communities, where the new presence or absence of inhabitants is particularly noticeable, immigration and outmigration often elicit ambiguous affective responses: feelings of loss, exclusionary reactions toward new-comers, fear of change, but also enthusiasm and a hope for the community’s revitalization. Inspired by recent discussions of ‘emplacement’ and ‘place-making’ away from essentialist notions of place (Massey 2005; Glick Schiller und Caglar 2019) and as practices that carry both emancipatory and exclusionary potential, this panel invites to think along the concept of ‘moving locations’. We thereby refer to the forms of (im-)mobilities that shape rural areas and communities, as well as the associated affects, materialities and politics of belonging.

We are interested in contributions that address (but are not limited to) the following questions:

- What types of affective reactions does movement to rural areas evoke for those who undertake it and those who witness it? Whose mobility ‘counts’ as problematic or hopeful immigration or outmigration? What forms of mobilities become desirable or threatening and for whom?

- How do material conditions – like real estate or public infrastructure – shape who can/should move to rural areas?

- How does rural community life co-constitute itself considering the inhabitants’ different positionalities and experiences of im-/mobility?

- How do local, national and transnational policies influence, reinforce or mitigate these positions and processes?