Gendered Journeys, Mobile Emotions

It is increasingly acknowledged that an analysis of emotions is necessary to fully understand the social world, and recent research on transport, travel and mobilities has begun to consider the gendered nature of public and personal life in relation to this sphere.   The focus of this multidisciplinary and auto/biographical volume is the emotional relationship that individuals and groups have with different means of travel. Attention is given to a variety of travel experiences, including travelling in trains, planes, cars, buses and ships, as well as biking, cycling, running and walking, from the perspective of travellers and those who earn their living in assisting these experiences of others. Imaginary travel and the relationships between art and travel are also considered.   Adopting innovative approaches to experiential material ranging from personal memories to empirical research, Gendered Journeys, Mobile Emotions opens up and illuminates an interdisciplinary debate about the gendered, emotive and emotional nature of travelling.

'This impressive book draws together the auto/biographical and the theoretical from across a range of social academic disciplines and, through its focus on gender and emotion, opens new opportunities for reflection on the nature and significance of mobilities as an emblematic characteristic of our time.' Susan Halford, University of Southampton, UK '...as an exploratory text, it provides an excellent beginning. The framework established by Letherby and Reynolds suggests innovative lines of enquiry around emotional labour, social relations of the journey, and the mechanisms by which emotion and gender are (re)constituted through practices of mobility.' Annals of Tourism Research

Gayle Letherby is Professor of Sociology at the University of Plymouth, UK. Gillian Reynolds is Research Fellow at SURGE (Applied Research Centre in Sustainable Regeneration), Coventry University, UK.