The Absent Presence of Aeromobility: A Case of Australian Academic Air Travel Practices and University Policy

Mobilities scholarship has paid considerable attention to the forms of presence enabled by air travel in hypermobile organisations (Elliott and Urry, 2010; Strengers, 2015; Storme et al., 2017). However, there has been less focus on the absences that these presences simultaneously generate. This chapter develops the concept of ‘absent presences’ enabled through the practices and policies of academic hypermobility. The chapter draws on qualitative interviews with 24 Australian-based academics, alongside a review of university policies that are relevant to air travel. We use these data to explore ‘absent presence’ in academic air travel. First, we suggest that there is an assumption in academia that embodied presence is required for authentic modes of knowledge sharing and networking, primarily at conferences and meetings. Yet this type of presence abroad requires that one is absent from home for extended periods. Second, we show how absent presence exists in academic policies concerning air travel. In university strategic plans, air travel is present as a means and measure of academic success. In university sustainability policies, however, air travel’s environmental impacts are often absent from consideration. We conclude by discussing the implications of absent presence in academic work life, as well as university policy and practice more broadly.