'On the outside': constructing cycling citizenship

This paper uses in-depth interview data from Cambridge, England, to discuss the concept of the 'cycling citizen', exploring how, within heavily-motorised countries, the practice of cycling might affect perceptions of the self in relation to natural and social environments. Participants por...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Social & cultural geography 2010-02, Vol.11 (1), p.35-52
Main Author:	Aldred, Rachel
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Bicycles ciclismo Citizens Citizenship citoyenneté ciudadanía consommation consumo Consumption cycling cyclisme England Geographic mobility identidad Identity identité mobility mobilité movilidad Persuasion Social environment Social Problems Social Response Transport transporte United Kingdom
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	This paper uses in-depth interview data from Cambridge, England, to discuss the concept of the 'cycling citizen', exploring how, within heavily-motorised countries, the practice of cycling might affect perceptions of the self in relation to natural and social environments. Participants portrayed cycling as a practice traversing independence and interdependence, its mix of benefits for the individual and the collective making it an appropriate response to contemporary social problems. In this paper I describe how this can be interpreted as based on a specific notion of cycling citizenship rooted in the embodied practice of cycling in Cambridge (a relatively high cycling enclave within the low-cycling UK). This notion of cycling citizenship does not dictate political persuasion, but carries a distinctive perspective on the proper relation of the individual to their environment, privileging views 'from outside' the motor-car.
ISSN:	1464-9365 1470-1197