Presentation
Wojciech Kębłowski is a critical urban geographer working on transport and alternatives to capitalism. He is based at VUB and ULB, holding the position of FWO Junior Postdoctoral Fellow. He is currently involved in two research projects: LiFT (funded by FNR and FWO, on mobility transitions related to public transport fares) and PUTSPACE (funded by HERA, on publicness of public transport).
Wojciech’s work focuses on two main themes. First, he is interested in brining critical social theory and decolonial theory to transport geography. He studies the political economy and governance of “sustainable” transport policies, transport in/formality, and publicness of public transport. He is particularly curious about practices of fare evasion and control, and the policy of fare abolition, otherwise known as fare-free public transport.
Second, he studies diverse alternatives to the capitalist mode of producing urban space and society. These include practices inspired by the notion of circular economy and degrowth, and various examples of citizen participation, for instance the policy of participatory budgeting. He explores how, why and for whom these “alternatives” emerge, and how they are transferred and “mobilised” between urban contexts.
Wojciech’s research has involved fieldwork in diverse cities in Western Europe (Aubagne, Brussels, Luxembourg, Helsinki, Madrid), Eastern Europe (Sopot, Wrocław, Tallinn), China (Chengdu) and Cuba (Santiago).