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The Leibniz research group “CoMoDe - Contentious Mobilities: Rethinking Mobility Transitions through a Decolonial Lens” at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography welcomes participants to the symposium "Knowledge Production in Public Transport. Normativities. Actors. Outcomes". The symposium will be held on March 18-21 in the G106 auditorium of Ilia State University.

Description of the call

In the face of climate crises sustainable, more attention is paid to the transformation of urban public transport systems and therefore to the reduction of dependency on cars. Municipalities, national governments, transnational developmental and financial institutions, and transnational consultancy companies are trying to bring changes to the sector.

Cities in formerly Soviet states, many of which experienced unprecedented rupture and decay of public transport infrastructures throughout the first two decades since the collapse of the Union, are now reinvesting and reforming urban public transport systems. Yet not only material infrastructures, financial investments and public regulations that experienced ruptures and transformative changes, but also transport-related knowledge production systems.

How is the knowledge inherited from Soviet planning practices or the knowledge accumulated by private and often informally operating actors (e.g., stakeholders of the marshrutka sector) used in the reformation of public transport? What new knowledge and expertise is mobilized while planning and implementing reforms? Which actors manage to articulate their concerns and interests, and which actors are silenced? Which broader imaginaries and desires about development and modernization shape urban public transport reforms?

This symposium is dedicated to understanding knowledge production in public transport, primarily in formerly Soviet cities and beyond.

It focuses on three interrelated topics:

• Normative visions surrounding public transport reforms. Which kinds of socio-economic orders are promoted as desired developmental paths while reforming public transport? How are socialist and capitalist modernity narrated in relation or through reforming public transport? How are sustainability, social, spatial and mobility justice defined, how such definitions and developmental imaginaries travel?
• Actors that produce knowledge about public transport, ranging from state officials, manufacturers, consultancies, developmental organizations and investors to users, service providers, transport workers, civil society actors and transport enthusiasts. How do actors accumulate transport- related knowledge and how do they manage or fail to influence transport-related policy making?
• Finally, the symposium looks into the outcomes of specific constellations of knowledge production. How do various knowledges re-shape policies, material infrastructures, and what kind of socio-spatial consequences do they carry for urban dwellers?

The organizers of the symposium invite participants irrespective of disciplines and affiliations – scholars, practitioners, transport activists, enthusiasts or artists – to submit paper abstracts or proposals for short workshops and artistic interventions related to one or more of the three key topics raised by the symposium: normativities, actors and outcomes.

Application

Send the application, including a brief biography and a description of the abstract/project (250 words), as a single pdf document via e-mail with the keyword: CoMoDe Tbilisi to: l_pozharliev@leibniz-ifl.de

Deadline for applications: January 30, 2023

Organizers will contact accepted participants within 15 days after this deadline. If necessary, selected participants will be funded (fully or partially) for accommodation and travelling expenses. Please indicate if you would like to receive funding.

By submitting the application, you consent to the processing of your personal data for the purpose of the application procedure.

Contact: Dr. Lyubomir Pozharliev (+49 341 600 55-160, l_pozharliev@leibniz-ifl.de)

Further information

The IFL conducts basic research on the regional geography of Germany and Europe and communicates its research findings to a wider public. The institute develops perspectives on socio-spatial developments in a globalized society that is increasingly characterized by differences, diversity and complexity.

The CoMoDe project brings a novel lens to mobility transitions literature by combining critical mobilities research and post-Soviet decolonial thinking. The CoMoDe project seeks to contribute to environmentally viable and socially inclusive mobility policies. The project conceptualises mobility transitions beyond technocratic fixes, focusing on power and epistemic inequalities.

For more details see https://bit.ly/3FZDAsD

2023