Putting Mobility on the Map: Researching Journeys and the Research Journey

Abstract

This paper, based on a fieldwork conducted with community transport projects in rural Ireland, examines the place of mobility in the lives of older people. It uses the idea of journey to explore what mobility means to older people, what the research made visible to a diverse range of project stakeholders and to reflect on the nature of ethnographic projects in industry settings. For passengers, the journeying is often as important as the destination — travelling creates visibility of countryside, community and communion with others. For project stakeholders, the research encouraged a view of mobility that transcends travel because it highlighted the world beyond the bus. For researchers, the project created challenges to the dominant view of technology for ageing‐in‐place within their own organization. Finally, reflections are made on industry ethnography as a journey with often unknown destinations.

Close Encounters: Anthropologists in the Corporate Arena

“…Roberts (2008) takes the reader on a journey through rural Ireland, the social life of the elderly, and challenges and opportunities for technological reconfiguration. The objects framing Robert's investigation, and the focus of the Product Research and Incubation division of Intel's Digital Health group, are "technological platforms that can support independent living for older people " (2008: 203).…”