Caravans: Lives on Wheels in Contemporary Europe

Description

In Caravans, Hege Høyer Leivestad opens the caravan door to understand how daily life is organised among Britons and Swedes who have relocated, either seasonally or permanently, to mobile homes. Leivestad investigates how the caravan and campsite come to fit and challenge conventional domestic ideals, and how the static mobile caravan can nurture ideas of freedom even when it is standing still. With sensitivity and an awareness of the humour and pathos of the lives of her subjects, Leivestad closely examines the shaping of the European camping phenomenon and its day-to-day pleasures and pains, ranging from friendships ties to conflictive bingo nights, from nosy and noisy neighbours to fake fireplaces and rotten awning floors. As the first ethnographic study of caravan life in Europe, Caravans offers a refreshing take on contemporary mobility debates, showing how movement can best be understood by taking a detailed look at certain specific mundanities in material culture Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Caravan and Camping Glossary Introduction: Standing Still 1. Caravans: ‘These cupboards look like plastic’ 2. Camp: ‘You like to be visible’ 3. Circumstances: ‘Why don’t we just sell the house, all our things and leave?’ 4. Containers: ‘You won’t even see there’s a caravan in there’ 5. Community: ‘We have found here what we can’t find at home anymore’ 6. Conclusion: Troubling Temporalities Epilogue Notes References Index