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A viscous cycle: low motility amongst Phnom Penh’s highly mobile cyclo riders

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  • Laurie Parsons
  • Sabina Lawreniuk

Abstract

This paper uses the concept of viscosity to highlight how structural impediments to movement affect not only populations and individuals characterised by low (or no) mobility but also highly mobile groups. Using the ‘cyclo’ riding paratransit workers of Phnom Penh as a lens, it is suggested here that groups of this sort are trapped in high-mobility cycles by a combination of structural factors and the discourse of their livelihoods. Specifically, cyclo riders are bound to their livelihoods by three overlapping forces: the evolution of Cambodia’s paratransit system during the past 20 years leading to diminishing demand for their services; shifts in agricultural production practices; and the changing narrative meaning of the occupation in the eyes of its customers. By combining a migration systems perspective with insights from previous work on the cultural discourse of mobility, it is argued here that this combination of pressures impels cyclo riders movement – and prevents its cessation – in such a way as to constitute the components of a circular, or mobile, viscosity.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurie Parsons & Sabina Lawreniuk, 2017. "A viscous cycle: low motility amongst Phnom Penh’s highly mobile cyclo riders," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 646-662, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rmobxx:v:12:y:2017:i:5:p:646-662
    DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2016.1176775
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Bank, 2013. "Where Have All the Poor Gone? : Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013," World Bank Publications - Reports 17546, The World Bank Group.
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