Automobility and the Liberal Disposition

Abstract

The private car and the public freeway together provide an ideal -not to say idealized -version of democratic urban transportation . . . The watchful tolerance and almost impeccable lane discipline of . . . drivers on the freeways is often noted, but not the fact that both are symptoms of something deeper -willing acquiescence in an incredibly demanding man/machine system . . . It demands, first of all, an open but decisive attitude to the placing of the car on the road surface [and] a constant stream of decisions that [could be regarded as] a higher form of pragmatism. (Banham, 1971) Individualism is a calm and considered feeling which disposes each citizen to isolate himself from the mass of his fellows and withdraw into the circle of family and friends; with this little society formed to his taste, he gladly leaves the greater society to look after itself. (Tocqueville et al., 1966: 477) In the West, by and large, we are all liberals now. Instead of ignoring or affecting to deplore this, we should be recognizing and reaffirming it. Or else, you never know, it might one day no longer be true. (Economist, 1996) Automobility, or the entire gamut of practices that foster car culture, qualifies both as product and producer of modernity. Its constitutive visual image is one of dignified convoys of individual cars, vehicles whose solitary drivers can remain separated from each other as they collectively pursue private goals on public highways. As such, this picture captures the salient features of cars in a post-Enlightenment order: the experience of driving, identified by the quiet pleasures of the open road, speed, power and personal control, neatly complements the functionality of covering distance, managing time and maintaining certain forms of individuation. One might thus portray an ontology of automobility that reinforces its teleology; together, they establish characteristically that which is modern and, by definition, permanently desirable.Although surprisingly few liberals would boast about it, automobility is not only well attuned to the demands of late modernity, it is also perhaps the most important modern development that could fulfil the unremitting liberal demand for individual autonomy. The single consistent theme running through liberal political theory is the ideal of a free person whose actions are her own. 1 Automobility, on its part, has become the (literally) concrete articulation of liberal

Climate change, travel and complex futures1

“…However, of course there is little personal freedom in being stuck in traffic congestion or being killed or maimed in a car accident (deaths from car accidents are 1.2m worldwide per year). It is certainly necessary to separate the flexibility of personal transportation from any notions of personal freedom (see Rajan 2006) although the implications of a digital panopticon are more extensive that this and will engender more opposition.…”

Performing Expatriate Mobilities in Kuala Lumpur

“…As discussed earlier, both mediums of travel presented a range of problems and the train was seen to nullify issues such as traffic jams, dangerous driving practices and the need to find parking spaces on their arrival at their desired destinations. Moreover, the avoidance of car ownership mitigated the requirements of having to purchase a vehicle in an uncertain environment (and occasionally in a scenario where English communication was limited), the need to obtain relevant driving documents and insurance (see also Rajan 2006), and the general running costs of maintaining a vehicle. While taxis could also eliminate several of these issues, the vast majority of expatriates were in agreement that this particular method of travel was often a last resort.…”

Developments and key issues in tourism mobilities

“…Rajan (2006) argues that the freedom associated with cars is perhaps not as readily available as one may assume. Before one can own or use a car, a range of driving paraphernalia must be acquired, including driving licenses, insurance policies and evidence of adequate car maintenance.…”

“…Of course, cars may permit the tourist (and his or her passengers) to choose where or when they stop. They also enable the occupants to choose specific routes that can be tailored to suit spatiotemporal or even experiential demands (Beckmann, 2001;Rajan, 2006;Butler and Hannam, 2012). After all, as Urry (2004: 28) suggests, -cars extend where people can go to and hence what they are literally able to do.‖ From a more practical perspective, the car offers a range of additional benefits to the driver.…”