Reconsidering the Bicycle: An Anthropological Perspective on a New (Old) Thing

181 Pages·2013·7.32 MB·English

by  Luis A. Vivanco

RECONSIDERING THE BICYCLE
In cities throughout the world, bicycles have gained a high profi le in recent
years, with politicians and activists promoting initiatives such as bike lanes,
bikeways, bike-share programs, and other social programs to get more people
on bicycles. Bicycles in the city are, some would say, the wave of the future for
car-choked, fi nancially-strapped, obese, and sustainability-sensitive urban areas.
This book explores how and why people are reconsidering the bicycle, no
longer thinking of it simply as a toy or exercise machine, but as a potential
solution to a number of contemporary problems. It focuses in particular on
what reconsidering the bicycle might mean for everyday practices and politics
of urban mobility, a concept that refers to the intertwined physical, technological,
social, and experiential dimensions of human movement.
This book is for Introductory Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Cultural
Sociology, Environmental Anthropology, and Urban Sociology courses.
Luis A. Vivanco is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the
Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont.
The Routledge Series for Creative Teaching and Learning in Anthropology
Editor: Richard H. Robbins, SUNY Plattsburgh
This series is dedicated to innovative, unconventional ways to connect
undergraduate students and their lived concerns about our social world to the
power of social science ideas and evidence. Our goal is to help spark social
science imaginations and, in doing so, open new avenues for meaningful
thought and action.
Available
Re-Imagining Milk by Andrea S. Wiley
Coffee Culture by Catherine M. Tucker
Lycra: How a Fabric Shaped America by Kaori O’Connor
Fake Stuff: China and the Rise of Counterfeit Goods by Yi-Chieh Jessica Lin
The World of Wal-Mart: Discounting the American Dream by Nicholas Copeland
and Christine Labuski
Reading the iPod as an Anthropological Artifact by Lane DeNicola
Bicycles in the City: An Anthropological Perspective on a New (Old) Thing by Luis
Vivanco
Alcohol: Social Drinking in Cultural Context by Janet Chrzan
Forthcoming
Trash by Monica Smith
Branding Gandhi by Ritu Khanduri
T-shirts by Kaori O’Connor
R E C O N S I D E R I N G
T H E B I C Y C L E
An Anthropological Perspective
on a New (Old) Thing
Luis A. Vivanco
University of Vermont
First published 2013
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
The right of Luis A. Vivanco to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks,
and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent
to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Vivanco, Luis Antonio, 1969–
Reconsidering the bicycle : an anthropological perspective on a
new (old) thing / Luis A. Vivanco.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Bicycles. 2. Cycling. I. Title.
GV1041.V58 2013
796.6—dc23
2012034586
ISBN: 978-0-415-50388-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-50389-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-58453-8 (ebk)
Typeset in New Baskerville
by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk, UK
For Peggy, Isabel, Felipe, and Camila, with Love and Gratitude

“That simple and effi cient little machine represents everything I believe
in: sustainable living, a cleaner earth, egalitarianism, and community.”
—Susie Stephens, Prominent U.S. Bicycle Advocate, 1999
“The mounted cyclist is a different person.”
—Paul Fournel, Need for the Bike, 2003: 132

CONTENTS
List of Figures xi
List of Boxes xiii
Series Foreword xv
Preface: The Bicycle, A New (Old) Thing xvii
Acknowledgments xxiii
1 Anthropology, Bicycles, and Urban Mobility 1
Reconsidering the Bicycle 2
Toward an Anthropology of Urban Bicycle Mobility 8
Fieldwork on Two Wheels: Pedaling Toward Critical Estrangement 14
For Further Exploration 21
2 What (and When) is a Bicycle? 23
Part One: A Brief History of Bicycles 26
Part Two: A Bicycle is a Multidimensional Object 41
For Further Exploration 55
3 Constructing Urban Bicycle Cultures: Perspectives on Three Cities 57
Urban Form, Mobility Systems, and Bicycles 60
AMSTERDAM: Unfazed and Nonplussed on Two Wheels 69
BOGOTÁ: “Bicycle Consciousness” and the Right to the City 76
BURLINGTON: Sharing the Road in a “Bicycle Friendly Community” 84
Conclusion 95
For Further Exploration 96
4 “Good for the Cause”: The Bike Movement as Social
Action and Cultural Politics 99
Constructing a Bike Movement with a Politically Flexible Symbol 103
Asserting the Visibility (and Invisibility) of the Bicycle 111
Dilemmas of Fun and Convenience 119
Conclusion 124
For Further Exploration 125