Description
Book Synopsis Grounded in scholarly analysis and personal reflection, and drawing on a multi-sited and multi-method research design, Momentous Mobilities disentangles the meanings attached to temporary travels and stays abroad and offers empirical evidence as well as novel theoretical arguments to develop an anthropology of mobility. Both focusing specifically on how various societies and cultures imagine and value boundary-crossing mobilities “elsewhere” and drawing heavily on his own European lifeworld, the author examines momentous travels abroad in the context of education, work, and spiritual quests and the search for a better quality of life.
Trade Review “Salazar’s book is immensely readable because he is not held back by writing regular academic prose. Momentous Mobilities, true to its subtitle, is an intense and meditative musing on the subject. It will be valuable to sociologists, anthropologists, scholars of migration, and non-specialists alike.” • JRAI
“Momentous Mobilities takes the reader on an impressive journey around the world, while navigating differently structured mobilities. Salazar’s interdisciplinary work is a compelling contribution to the complex field of migration and mobility studies, and will undoubtedly serve as a key reference to students, scholars, and practitioners alike.” • Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change
“This book helps broaden the discussion of mobility that is so often focused on migration or diaspora. With its emphasis on the relationship between mobility and ‘staying’ or immobility, it also offers a useful corrective to the literature that privileges mobility.” • Deborah Reed-Danahay, University at Buffalo
“A fascinating read… Salazar skillfully explores the cultural meanings attached to movement, considering both the individual significance of boundary crossings and their social valuations. The in-depth knowledge of multiple case studies from other societies and diverse contexts of education, work and pilgrimage enlivens the work, while his personal and first-hand reflections of how movement has featured within his own biography feed his musings to generate a highly readable account.” • Caroline Oliver, University of Roehampton
Table of Contents List of Illustrations
Foreword
Vered Amit
Preface
Introduction: Mapping Mobility
PART I: IMAGINING MOBILITY
Chapter 1. Chile: Traveling to and from the End of the World
Chapter 2. Indonesia: Merantau and Modernity
Chapter 3. Tanzania: The Maasai as Icons of Mobility
PART II: ENACTING MOBILITY
Chapter 4. Education: Leaving to Learn
Chapter 5. Labor: Capitalizing on Movement
Chapter 6. Life’s “Pilgrimage”: Travel, Travail, Transformation
Conclusion: Mobile Futures
References
Index
