Method in the madnessor

autoethnography against automobility

Katja Leyendecker EurIng CEngResearcher at Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK

Prepared for Cycling & Society SymposiumBristol, 7 September 2018

1

Fiona Spotswood et al (2015)Despite significant national and local efforts over the last decade to stimulate uptake of cycling in the UK, levels of cycling (particularly utility cycling) remain at around 2% of journeys

From the academic message boards

2

“stubbornly unshifting”

No city in Europe or North America has achieved high level of cycling without an extensive network of well-integrated bike lanes and paths that provide separation from motor vehicle traffic. […] Separate cycling facilities are a crucial first step towards increasing cycling and making it socially inclusive. Pucher & Buehler (2012:351)

From the academic message boards

3

Video diary

My data sources

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My blog

… transport policy comparison… travel data… infrastructure checks… living and participating in Germany and UK… and so forth

Interviews

Auto

/eth

nogr

aphy

Video diary

5

Description:In 2017, daily recording of 3 min diary videos (totalling 16 hours)RetrospectiveEach video summarised a week’s worth of campaigning activities (covering 7 years)

Analysis method: Multiple re-listening, a narrative was emerging

Rationalisation, spotting salient events and recurring subjects

Output:Separated my personal investment and emotion from events

Campaign timeline of events : “what had happened?”

My blog

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Description:Blogged over 3 years | posts 179 | word count

123,000

Exercise in ‘public thinking’

Sharing views, exchanging views (f.e. via twitter)

Analysis method: Multiple re-reading

Traditional coding method, thematic analysis

Output:Initial conceptual framework : “what is going

on?”

Interviews

7

Description:Eight women activists (16 hours)

Four officials (5 hours) & various others

In UK and in Germany

Semi-structured | in-depth

Analysis method: Transcribing, multiple re-reading

Thematic analysis | narrative analysis

Output:Reviewed conceptual framework : “what is really going on?”

Data process

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The emerging landscape(to date)

9

the i

neffe

ctual

coun

cillor

who ha

d ced

ed co

ntro

l to th

e offi

cer

the technocratic officer who continued to design roads for cars

the vehicular cyclist

rejecting the specific need for cycleways,

thereby aiding officers

Women activists“We want cycleways”

Automobility

Re/e

nact

ing

and

rein

forc

ing

the

“sys

tem

of a

utom

obili

ty”

Urry

(200

4)

Chal

leng

ing

the

“sys

tem

of

auto

mob

ility

” Legend Decision makersCivic society

Concluding remarks

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Relevance to the politics of utility cycling?

UK (and German) cycle campaigning can be heterogenous and incoherent in its message /story /narrative (but improving)

The automobility regime and practices has not been sufficiently recognised or accepted by advocates as the adversary (Melucci, 1996)

Automobility and its secondary adversaries (democratic deficit, technocratic officers) should be better conceptualised by advocates, also resulting in campaigning strategies

My next step: • loop back into academic theory • social theory | critical urban theory | etc• writing my thesis… (forthcoming 2019)

References

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Melucci, Alberto. 1996. Challenging Codes - Collective Action in the Information Age. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Pucher, John R., and Ralph Buehler. 2012. City Cycling. Book, Whole. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press.

Spotswood, Fiona, Tim Chatterton, Alan Tapp, and David Williams. 2015. “Analysing Cycling as a Social Practice: An Empirical Grounding for Behaviour Change.” Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 29: 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2014.12.001.

Urry, J. 2004. “The ‘System’ of Automobility.” Theory, Culture & Society 21 (4–5): 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404046059.