Social and spatial (im)mobility in the context of centre-periphery relations
Call for Papers: Social and spatial (im)mobility in the context of centre-periphery relations
Our current era is often described as one of accelerated mobility, or hypermobility, driven largely by contemporary capitalism. A defining feature of the global capitalist system is the spatialisation of social inequalities, producing centres, semi-peripheries, and peripheries at multiple scales. While centres attract and concentrate resources and opportunities, peripheral and semi-peripheral spaces frequently experience outflows of people and capital, and limited prospects for social reproduction. As centres and peripheries are relational and hierarchical, social and spatial mobility frequently coincide, making movement towards relative centres a crucial step for social advancement.
Critical approaches argue that social mobility is not necessarily a prerequisite for social progress but rather a normative expectation that integrates individuals into existing structures while obscuring structural inequalities (Favel 2010; Lawler 2017; Reay 2013, 2017). Public and political discourses often present individual upward mobility as a panacea for social problems, shifting responsibility from systemic factors onto individuals (Durst & Beremény 2024; Folkes 2022; Lawler & Payne 2017; Reay 2013, 2017). Moreover, the ideal of individual mobility conflicts with collective well-being by treating communities of origin as obstacles that mobile individuals are expected to leave behind. At the same time a growing body of scholarship explores how the normative valorisation of social and spatial mobility shapes processes of peripherisation and influences spaces that are left behind (Haas 2021; Ringel 2018; Wuthnow 2019).
The Special Issue examines the consequences of this hegemony of socio-spatial mobility for individuals, groups, and places that do not—or cannot—conform to it.
On the one hand, our Special Issue invites empirically grounded papers, which explore what happens to those who are seen as not mobile. How do expectations/dominant discourses of mobility influence their experiences, perceptions, aspirations and practices? How do they attribute meaning and value to their “immobility” or non-normative mobility trajectories? What other forms of social and spatial mobility exist, and what alternative values or social relations can they maintain?
On the other hand, we are also interested in peripheral or semi-peripheral places and their societies from which movement is occurring. How does mobility influence local class and ethnic relations? What elements or constituents in a locality can counteract the hegemony of mobility?
We invite scholars to submit an abstract of 500–800 words describing the main questions and findings of the paper, the methodology of the research and a short bio (100 words) by March 16, 2026.
Authors will receive feedback by March 30, 2026. The deadline for submitting final papers is September 15, 2026. The issue is scheduled for publication in April 2027 at the earliest.
Abstract submissions and inquiries should be sent to the special issue editors: Alexandra Szőke (szoke.alexandra@krtk.elte.hu) and Cecília Kovai (kovai.cecila@krtk.elte.hu)
Submission guidelines follow the journal’s standard requirements. Manuscripts should be original, unpublished, and between 6,000 and 8,000 words.
