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“Put the Fun Between Your Legs!”: the Politics and Counterculture of the Bicycle

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“Put the Fun Between Your Legs!”: the Politics and Counterculture of the Bicycle “PUT THE FUN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS!”: THE POLITICS AND COUNTERCULTURE OF THE BICYCLE by Zachary Mooradian Furness B.A. Pennsylvania State University, 1999 M.A. University of Pittsburgh, 2001 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2005 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Zachary Mooradian Furness It was defended on October 20, 2005 and approved by Gordon Mitchell, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Andrew Weintraub, Associate Professor, Department of Ethnomusicology Co-Advisor: Carol Stabile, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Dissertation Advisor: Jonathan Sterne, Associate Professor, McGill University ii Copyright © by Zachary Mooradian Furness 2005 iii “PUT THE FUN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS!”: THE POLITICS AND COUNTERCULTURE OF THE BICYCLE Zachary Mooradian Furness, PhD University of Pittsburgh This project is a cultural study of bicycles and the politics that inform the everyday practice of cycling. Through a close examination of media, rhetoric, and protest, I focus my attention on groups of people who believe that bicycles are not merely forms of transportation, rather, they are instruments of communication, sources of identity, vehicles for pleasure, and tools for technological, cultural, and political critique. This ‘counterculture’ is comprised of feminists, socialists, punks, anti-globalization activists, writers, environmentalists, and others who have created and developed a politics of cycling through a dialectic of communication and action. Through this dialectical process, these cyclists have not only created an important body of knowledge that speaks to issues of gender, class, culture, technology, and ideology, they also demonstrate both how these issues are interrelated and how people can actively negotiate and contest their meanings. As such, they reveal the capacity for others to effectively utilize grassroots organization, alternative media production, and non-violent direct action as a means to initiate political mobilization and positive change in an era of corporatization, globalization, and widespread cynicism. More than anything, they remind us that revolution can, and must, begin in our everyday lives. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, this project would not have been possible without the assistance, advice, support, and patience of my friend and advisor, Jonathan Sterne. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my co-chair, Carol Stabile, whose politics and attitude always inspire me, and to Gordon Mitchell, who advised me throughout my Masters degree and instructed me in the art of teaching. I would also like to thank Andrew Weintraub for his encouragement and participation on my committee. I would like to extend a special thanks to Maxwell “the king” Schnurer and Mark Harrison, who are both dear friends that have greatly influenced my intellectual interests, my teaching, and my life. Thanks also go out to my mom, Zaban, the Rachel, Crazy Nathan, Chris Belasco, Jessica Ghilani, Kalie Pierce, my friends in Brooklyn, Bay Woods, Antonis and Pat, Voice in the Wire, Nate and Sue, Hilary, the good folks at Crazy Mocha, and to my friends in the Pittsburgh art/music/zine community that have given me support, feedback, and/or encouragement on this project (especially Mikey, Mary, Shawn, Erok, Steevo, and Justin). Final thanks to my Poppa, who would have been proud of what a book nerd I have become. *A revised version of chapter two entitled, “Biketivism and Technology: Historical Reflections and Appropriations,” appears in Social Epistemology Vol. 19, no.4. *All photos, images, and artwork are either used by permission or are not subject to copyright law (public domain). v This project is dedicated to the bike punx and to all of the cyclists, activists, writers, teachers, musicians, artists, zinesters, travelers, wingnuts, and freaks that make this world worth living in. Figure 1-Dedication (photo by Jon Pratt) vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE....................................................................................................................................XI 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................... 6 1.2 CHAPTER PREVIEW ............................................................................................... 9 2.0 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL DISCUSSION...................................................... 13 2.1 ON THE POLITICS AND CULTURE OF THE BICYCLE: RHETORICAL POSITIONS THAT FRAME ADVOCACY.................................................................... 16 2.1.1 Limitations to these rhetorical models ......................................................... 19 2.1.2 Korporate Kar Kulture ................................................................................. 24 2.1.3 Driving Forces and Automotive Ideology .................................................... 29 2.2 THE CYCLING COUNTERCULTURE ............................................................... 34 2.2.1 Reflections on the concept of counterculture............................................... 35 2.2.2 Do It Yourself (DIY) and Cultural Politics.................................................. 38 2.3 PERSPECTIVES ON TECHNOLOGY.................................................................. 46 2.3.1 Making technologies communicate (symbols and semiotics) ..................... 48 2.4 URBAN SPACE/MATERIAL SPACE.................................................................... 52 2.5 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................... 54 3.0 CHAPTER THREE: THE POLITICS OF BICYCLING—A HISTORY ................... 55 3.1 BICYCLES, WORKING CLASSES, AND SOCIALISM..................................... 57 3.2 EARLY FEMINISM AND BIKING........................................................................ 63 3.3 THE PROVOS AND THE WHITE BICYCLE PROGRAM................................ 76 3.4 VELORUTIONARIES.............................................................................................. 80 3.5 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................... 83 vii 4.0 CHAPTER FOUR: CRITICAL MASS, CAR CULTURE AND THE POLITICS OF SPACE ......................................................................................................................................... 85 4.1 CRITICAL MASS-BACKGROUND AND (DIS)ORGANIZATION .................. 87 4.2 CAR CULTURE AND CONVIVIALITY............................................................... 93 4.3 CONTESTING SPACE, CONTESTING IDEOLOGY......................................... 99 4.3.1 Performative Critique.................................................................................. 100 4.3.2 Situationism .................................................................................................. 102 4.3.3 CM and “Situations” ................................................................................... 106 4.3.4 Contributing to dissent (other functions of the performative critique) .. 111 4.4 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 114 5.0 CHAPTER FIVE: DIY BIKING/DIY MEDIA............................................................. 116 5.1 ALTERNATIVE MEDIA/ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITIES.......................... 118 5.1.1 Bike Zines...................................................................................................... 120 5.1.2 Bikeumentaries............................................................................................. 124 5.1.3 Bikes and the punk community .................................................................. 127 5.1.3.1 Perspectives on punk ........................................................................ 130 5.2 ARTICULATING THE POLITICS OF CYCLING............................................ 134 5.2.1 Radical politics in the DIY community ...................................................... 137 5.2.2 Contextualizing bikes as part of the DIY consciousness .......................... 142 5.3 THE LOCAL, OR A ‘SENSE OF PLACE’ THROUGH BIKES AND DIY MEDIA .............................................................................................................................. 145 5.3.1 Biking is fun!................................................................................................. 150 5.4 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 153 6.0 CHAPTER SIX: COMMUNITY CYCLING PROJECTS.......................................... 155 6.1 COMMUNITY CYCLING PROGRAMS ............................................................ 157 6.1.1 Issues of race and class in community programs ...................................... 161 6.1.2 Foreign aid.................................................................................................... 165 6.2 COMMUNITY BIKE SPACES ............................................................................. 167 6.3 GENDER ISSUES AND BIKE CULTURE.......................................................... 170 6.4 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................
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