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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2014 Driving cultures Theresa Mary Harada University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Harada, Theresa Mary, Driving cultures, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Department of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong, 2014. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4058 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Faculty of Social Science Department of Geography and Sustainable Communities Driving Cultures Theresa Mary Harada "This thesis is presented as part of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Wollongong" January 2014 ABSTRACT This thesis provides rich insights into the lived experiences of mobility by investigating the embodied dimensions of transport choices. In a context of climate change and the need for adaptive transport behaviours this thesis goes beyond conventional and long- standing Cartesian dualist thinking that separates mind and body. Instead, this thesis proposes a more holistic approach to understanding why car driving remains the dominant form of daily transport. Inspired by the work of post-structuralist feminist scholars and the non-representational turn in geography and cultural studies, this thesis takes a visceral approach. This approach utilises feminist readings of philosophers Deleuze and Guattari (1987) to conceptualize everyday car driving practices as processual assemblages where bodies, materials, objects, ideas, affects and emotions come together in heterogeneous and dynamic relations that can develop along particular trajectories. The findings of the thesis illustrate that knowledge and awareness of the contribution of vehicle emissions to climate change were not enough to change car driving practices. Car driving practices were entwined with emergent subjectivities and social practices that helped to create, reinforce or disrupt understandings of different aspects of identity. This thesis makes a contribution to the current mobilities literature by building on and applying a range of innovative methods in the light of the recent theoretical developments highlighting the importance of affective and emotional registers. It addresses the gap between the dominant, quantitative, rationalist transport paradigm and the more abstracted, masculinist approach of mobilities literature by providing a grounded empirical account of everyday transport behaviours and a feminist interpretation of self, others and place. From a policy point of view, the thesis contributes to sustainable transport strategies by provoking thinking beyond current paradigmatic boundaries. Through a visceral approach the thesis highlights opportunities for encouraging a modal shift in transport policy. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this thesis causes me to reflect on the last few years and how various assemblages have kept me afloat; the Australian Post-Graduate award, AUSCCER friends and colleagues, my supervisor Professor Gordon Waitt, conferences and seminars, and an array of inspirational scholars. I have only praise and gratitude for the support of my supervisor who has been understanding, inspiring, critical and encouraging at all the right times. It has been a great privilege to work with him and other AUSCCER students and staff. I want to thank Professor Ian Buchanan for having time to help me muddle through the Deleuze and Guattarian concepts that I grapple with in this thesis. Special thanks also to Dr. Candice Boyd from Melbourne University and Dr. Michelle Duffy from Monash University for their friendship and inspiration and finding the time to work collaboratively on various papers and presentations. The ideas in the methodology chapter have been published as a journal article and I am grateful to the anonymous referees who provided their insights for this paper. Many thanks to David Clifton for his help with my dodgy diagrams. Alongside the assemblage of the university the home assemblage offered a different set of affective relations. Working on the thesis was often a welcome refuge from tempestuous domestic relationships and emotional highs and lows that are a part of family life. Having said that, I acknowledge the support of my family and friends as they encouraged, pestered and downright nagged me to finish the thesis. Even though I alternated between being preoccupied/absent-minded/vague and cranky/emotional /irrational for much of the last couple of years our sticking power has endured! Special thanks to my stalwarts Terrence and Nao. I owe a debt of gratitude to the participants who warmly invited me into their cars and homes and shared the personal insights that made this thesis possible. Their devotion of a considerable amount of time and effort was truly appreciated. And finally I want to acknowledge my dear father Patrick, a devoted car enthusiast who passed away in 2010 but who was thrilled that I was writing about cars and driving. I say sincerely thank you one and all. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... II TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................III LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. VII LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... VIII LIST OF BOXES ................................................................................................. VIII CHAPTER 1. DRIVING CULTURES ..................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction to the thesis ............................................................................. 1 1.2 Australian Government Response to Climate Change .................................. 4 1.3 Local Climate Change Transport Policies ...................................................10 1.4 Genesis of the project idea .........................................................................15 1.5 Aims and objectives ...................................................................................17 1.6 The structure of the thesis ..........................................................................20 CHAPTER 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ....22 2.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................22 2.2 Missing in action – bodies in the transport paradigm ..................................24 2.3 Governance and social distinction ..............................................................26 2.4 Actor Network Theory ...............................................................................27 2.5 Affectual geographies ................................................................................28 2.6 Feminism and affectual geographies ..........................................................30 2.7 The potential of the schizoanalytic approach ..............................................37 2.8 A feminist approach to mobility .................................................................38 2.9 Thinking through a visceral approach .........................................................40 2.10 Conceptual tools ........................................................................................42 2.11 Conclusion .................................................................................................44 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................46 3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................46 3.2 Rationale- what is driving the research? .....................................................47 3.3 How and why the project changed ..............................................................48 3.4 Implementing the project ...........................................................................52 iii 3.5 Driving ethnographies: Mixed-method qualitative approach .......................53 3.6 Travel log and time-space prism.................................................................53 3.7 Semi-structured interviews .........................................................................55 3.8 Mobile methods: the ride-along ..................................................................55 3.9 Audio and video recordings .......................................................................58 3.10 Incorporating processes of research rigour .................................................60 3.11 Ethical considerations ................................................................................68 3.12 Empirical Data Collection ..........................................................................70 3.13 Management of data ...................................................................................72 3.14 Analysis of data .........................................................................................73 3.14.1 Sound Diaries ...............................................................................74 3.14.2 Audio-Visual material ..................................................................76