Anthropology Anthro 3472 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Path Dependence, Thx, Radical Change
1 Feb 2017
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Myth of freedom (car = freedom of mobility, freedom to get up and leave whenever you want) Constrained flexibility (fear of running out of gas, fear of parking too far away and having lost your car, etc. ) We are (cid:862)self-(cid:373)ade(cid:863) people we tie up our vehicles with our sense of self: well, not really, much of what we are is filtered through choices from the dominating systems (i. e. automobility) Car"s asso(cid:272)iatio(cid:374)s (cid:449)ith a(cid:373)eri(cid:272)a(cid:374) drea(cid:373), prosperit(cid:455), a(cid:272)hie(cid:448)e(cid:373)e(cid:374)t, pri(cid:448)ate propert(cid:455) Gi(cid:448)es us se(cid:374)se of e(cid:374)title(cid:373)e(cid:374)t, or (cid:862)right(cid:863) to the (cid:272)ar (cid:449)e ha(cid:448)e. We learn to desire (and then justify) what cars enable. An orientation against nature + public, social forms of mobility, i. e. buses, metro, etc. Mystification and fetishism: cars are seeing, feeling, loving social bodies (cars) New policies (urry) pushback against electric cars in california. New ethics (sheller) concerns about safety: more jeeps on the road, cheaper gas. Remember mitchell: industry wanted us to drive big v8s.
