Abstract:

A mobility low-carbon transition is a key issue both socially and for mobilities research. The greatest challenge for contemporary mobilities research is how, and if, a socio-technical transition to ‘sustainable transport’ is possible. The multi-level perspective (MLP) is justifiably a leading approach in such research, with important connections to high-profile socio-technical systemic analyses within the mobilities paradigm.

The paper explores the key contributions that a Foucauldian-inspired cultural political economy offers, going beyond central problems with the MLP, specifically regarding a productive concept of power that affords analysis of the qualitatively novel and dynamic process of transition; and the incorporation of the exogenous ‘landscape’ into the analysis. This move thus resonates with growing calls for attention to power dynamics in mobilities research and a ‘structural’ turn. In making this case, the authors deploy the key case study of contemporary efforts towards mobility transition in China.