Introduction: Impossibilities of Automobility

Abstract

Automobiles, their production, consumption, meaning and consequences, have vexed and intrigued theorists, governments, businesses, unions, protesters and activists from their inception in the late nineteenth century to the present day. As a figure of the contemporary landscape, the automobile evokes the concerns and thematics of modernity, whether these are the rationalized, automated production line of Henry Ford or the seemingly insatiable appetite for speed and movement that is its counterpoint. Automobiles have thus become a topic about which there is great interest across the social sciences, as well as outside academia. There is consequently a substantial volume of works on the automobile, with varying focuses on history (for

‘On the outside’: constructing cycling citizenship

“…While the twentieth century saw driving shift from an elite to a mass pursuit (Sachs 1992), this processes has created its own distinctive patterns of inequality, with associated effects on social cohesion, social inclusion, and well-being (Wilkinson and Pickett 2009 Finally and more contentiously, Böhm et al (2006) claim that the infrastructural demands of mass motorisation lead to a contradictory individualisation at an ideological level. Like underground rail networks, large-scale motorisation demands massive public investment.…”

Putting the Power in ‘Socio-Technical Regimes’ – E-Mobility Transition in China as Political Process

“…Böhm et al 2006). For instance, in China no less than elsewhere, roads are increasingly not smooth passages but interminable traffic jams sat in, and producing, unbreathable air; and in an age of austerity and tight credit, as well as stagnant or falling wages, luxury vehicles come to symbolise the gulf between profligate and shameless 'haves' and 'will-never-haves', and thus a moral economy that has lost all its popular legitimacy.…”

Automobility, Vélomobility, American Mobility: An Exploration of the Bicycle Tour

“…Their argument was that urban studies needed to explore the idea that 'the car-driver is a "hybrid" assemblage' and that as such these hybrids are 'only able to roam in certain time-space scapes ' (p. 739). Their call has been heeded; since the publication of their article, the social sciences have seen an increase in work on automobilities (see for instance Böhm et al, 2006;Featherstone et al, 2004). This article will attempt to further contribute to the discussion, focusing on bicycle tourism in the United States.…”

“…(Sheller & Urry, 2000, p. 739). It should also be stressed that the term is a combination of autonomy and mobility, not necessarily requiring an automobile for its existence (Böhm et al, 2006). That said, the car is the dominant force in contemporary automobility, but others have looked at cycling (Fincham, 2006) and information technology (Miller, 2006) as alternatives.…”