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Mobility, Migration and Transport pp 103–123Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

History and Mobility Through a Microscope

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Migration History ((PSMH))

Abstract

Studies of human movement and transport are often approached at a macro scale, concerned with broad trends of migration flows, modal shifts or the development of new regional or national transport infrastructures. However, from the perspective of the everyday, travel and transport are experienced at the individual and community level. What matters for most people when they undertake a journey is not how many people travel by car or public transit, but their personal experience of the journey: was it on time, reasonably comfortable, affordable and safe?. In this chapter I argue that there are benefits to be gained from not only studying all aspects of population movement at the macro-scale, but also that much can be shown by focusing more fully on individual experiences.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For a range of examples see contributions to journals such as Mobilities and Transfers.

  2. 2.

    See for example material in the Diary of Elizabeth Lee who lived on Merseyside, England in the late-nineteenth century (Pooley et al. 2010).

  3. 3.

    Diaries of Freda Smith 1904–1914, Bishopsgate Institute Archives, London: GDP/99.

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  1. Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, Lancashire, United Kingdom

    Colin G. Pooley

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Pooley, C.G. (2017). History and Mobility Through a Microscope. In: Mobility, Migration and Transport. Palgrave Studies in Migration History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51883-1_5

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