Carrying class and gender: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles of urban middle classes in Dutch inner cities

Abstract

In Dutch inner-cities, like Amsterdam, 'cargo bikes' have become a popular mode of transport for urban families. Remarkably, the cargo bike has become a highly contested object in both public space and public discourse. This paper uses the cargo bike as a lens to discuss the transformations of urban space from the perspective of class and gender. Based on a qualitative content analysis of national newspapers it argues that the cargo bike has become a symbol of the interdependence of specific residential, employment, consumption and mobility practices.Cargo-bike drivers are portrayed as 'yuppies' or 'elitist', related to their class position; and described in terms of specific gender roles: cargo-bike mothers are described as career-focused mothers who are assertive and self-confident, while cargo-bike dads are portrayed as 'soft' yet also emancipated. These labels attest to the different expectations and normativities around being a 'good' mother or father, particularly within the context of urban space. This paper concludes that the cargo bike is a symbol of the way in which middle-class mothers and fathers challenge and negotiate these dominant norms around parenthood, who are thereby remaking the city.Transport de classe et de genre: les vélos cargos en tant que marqueurs symboliques des rôles égalitaires des genres chez les classes moyennes urbaines dans les centres villes néerlandais RÉSUMÉ Dans les centres villes néerlandais, tels qu'Amsterdam, les « vélos cargos » sont devenus un mode de transport populaire pour les familles urbaines. Il est remarquable que le vélo cargo soit devenu un objet très contesté à la fois dans l'espace public et le discours public. Dans cet article, le vélo cargo est utilisé comme grille d'analyse ARTICLE HISTORY

Urban‐Rural Polarisation in Times of the Corona Outbreak? The Early Demographic and Geographic Patterns of the SARS‐CoV‐2 Epidemic in the Netherlands

“…It seems more likely that narratives about social distancing and density are interlinked with exiting social and spatial cleavages that are played out along different social issues. The 'outbreak narrative', as Wald (2008) calls it, is fraught with socio cultural meaning, fitting into existing and spatial polarisation between urban areas and the rest of the country (Boterman 2020). As this paper illustrated with examples from the (social) media debate, social distancing and staying home are the social rituals of this COVID-19 crisis.…”

“…These rather stark remarks about irresponsible behaviour of people in the Randstad (the conurbation of major cities) are echoed in multiple tweets about lack of social solidarity and arrogance of inhabitants of the bigger cities (Figures 4 and 5). Of course these comments are not representative for the whole public debate, but they do attest to the tendency to fit newly emerging social issues, of which the Corona crisis is a vivid example, into existing dichotomies (Boterman 2020; Tzaninis et al . 2018).…”

Questioning COVID-19 Pre-packaged Solidarity Initiatives in the Dutch Urban Spaces

“…By promoting and support-ing a consumption culture that predominantly engages white, wealthier bodies, the initiative reveals the intricacies of race, neoliberal urbanism, and Dutch racial nationalism. The products advertised on the Javakaart website and the shops that sell them function as status-conferring objects and places (Boterman 2020) connected to a specific lifestyle and behaviour that is not just middle-class, but also forms a quintessential part of normative ideas about Dutchness as hip, wealthy, healthy, young, and -most importantly -Christian and ethnically white (see e.g. de Leeuw & van Wiechelen 2014).…”

Where’s the community in community, work and family? A community-based capabilities approach

“…Similarly, empirical studies highlight the intersection of community not only with gender but also social categories of class, race and ethnicity. In the Netherlands, the cargo bike, a bike with a cargo section up front often used to transport children, has become a symbol of middle-class motherhood within urban spaces (Boterman, 2018). Some scholars find that place is less important for middle-class mothers, suggesting the importance of place varies in gendered and classed ways (McDowell et al, 2006).…”