Performing Cycling: Cultural Dimensions of Cycling Practices
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Performing cycling: Cultural dimensions of cycling practices Junaid Vali Janvaria M.Sc by Research Thesis 2018 Performing cycling: Cultural dimensions of cycling practices Submitted by Junaid Vali Janvaria For the Qualification of Masters Of Science by Research 2018 University of Salford School of Environment and Life Sciences Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS I LIST OF TABLES IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V ABSTRACT VI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 OUTLINE OF THE CHAPTER 1 CYCLING, WHERE ARE WE? 2 BENEFITS OF CYCLING 3 HEALTH IN THE GENERAL POPULATION 4 HEALTH WITHIN THE ETHNIC MINORITIES 5 CYCLING 6 WHERE ARE THE ETHNIC MINORITIES? 9 THESIS FOCUS 11 OUTLINE OF SUBSEQUENT CHAPTERS 12 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 14 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 14 CYCLING POLICIES AND STRATEGIES 15 HOW CYCLING CAN BE IMPROVED 17 IDENTITIES OF CYCLING 20 WHAT IT MEANS TO MOVE 25 TRAVELING BEHAVIOUR 27 WHAT IS PRACTICE THEORY 29 SOUTH ASIANS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 31 CYCLING AS A PRACTICE 35 CHAPTER SUMMERY 38 CHAPTER 3 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW 40 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 40 WHY IS A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW NEEDED? 40 METHOD 41 INCLUSION CRITERIA 42 RESULTS 46 FINDINGS 51 DISCUSSION 57 THE DIFFERENT MATERIALS INVOLVED IN CYCLING 57 i THE MEANINGS INVOLVED IN CYCLING 58 COMPETENCES NEEDED FOR CYCLING 60 CHAPTER SUMMARY 62 CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY 63 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 63 SAMPLING METHOD 64 REFLEXIVITY 66 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 68 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS 68 SATURATION POINT 71 INTERVIEW GUIDE 72 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION 73 ANALYSIS 74 CHAPTER SUMMARY 76 CHAPTER 5 RESULTS 77 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 77 MEANINGS 79 CYCLING AS A CHILDISH ACTIVITY 79 PARTICIPANT AS CYCLISTS 84 CONFORMING-FEMALES IN CULTURE AND SOCIETY 87 CONFORMING-MALES IN CULTURE AND SOCIETY 92 DOMESTIC RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN ETHNIC HOUSEHOLDS 94 THE EFFECT OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS 98 MATERIALS 102 THE IMPORTANCE OF FACILITIES 103 THE COST OF CYCLING 107 HOW CLOTHING CAN ACT AS A BARRIER 109 COMPETENCIES 115 THE ABILITY TO CYCLE 115 CHAPTER SUMMARY 120 CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION 122 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 122 THE PRACTICE OF CYCLING AMONGST MUSLIM INDIANS 124 THE MEANINGS OF CYCLING AMONGST MUSLIMS 127 ISLAMIC BARRIERS 133 WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY? 136 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION 142 LIMITATIONS 144 APPENDICES 146 ii APPENDIX A 146 APPENDIX B 150 APPENDIX C 152 APPENDIX D 154 REFERENCES 155 iii List of Tables Table 1 Database search criteria ............................................................................................... 45 Table 2 Relevant articles .......................................................................................................... 51 Table 3 Participant Information ................................................................................................ 79 iv Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to give my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr Mags Adams, for guiding me throughout my thesis. For her continuous support, relentless motivation and her vast amount of knowledge not only during my MRes but also throughout my tenure at the University of Salford. I would like to thank her for the inspiration, drive, and her fundamental role in helping me achieve to be where I am today. I would also like to thank my co supervisor Dr Graeme Sherriff and the academic staff in helping me with my thesis, for the insightful comments and the vital training needed for which I am truly grateful. I would like to thank all the participants who contributed to this study, without your input my work would not have been completed to the standard that it has, thank you for your time and efforts. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their continuous support, patience and ear for when times got tough. v Abstract As there are various strategies put in place to increase cycling, cycling within the ethnic minority is still predominantly low and the reason why has not been broadly studied. This research aims to understand more about why there is a lack of cycling amongst the Indian ethnic community in the UK. Primarily this research uncovers why cycling for commuting or leisure purposes is intermittent within the Indian ethnic minority compared to the white majority groups. It explores boundaries of culture and religion, investigating the meanings, practices, and competencies of cycling amongst Indians living in the North West of England. The study uses practice theory as an analytical framework in providing an alternative method in realising the complex nuances between the elements that create the practice of cycling. This helps to focus on cycling as being considered as a social issue rather than an individual behaviour. Using a systematic review to first outline the available literature on cycling amongst ethnic minorities and then semi-structured interviews amongst 19 participants, the study established several barriers. The study found that amongst the Indian participants who are primarily Muslims, there with profound religious barriers playing a role, though Islam promoted physical activity. For men and women, there was a clear distinction on what can and cannot be practiced due to cultural and religious beliefs. Further cultural norms from first generation towards the younger second or third generations living in the UK have different meanings towards the practice of cycling and these meanings have an effect as to whether cycling can be a feasible option. This research is designed to help create or modify existing policies that are centred on transport and sustainability, through education and training, specifically cycling within neighbourhoods that are predominantly Indian and or Muslim living in the UK. vi Chapter 1 Introduction Outline of the chapter This chapter will provide a general introduction of cycling, the health benefits of cycling, and cycling averages in the UK amongst ethnic minorities. The following chapters entail the barriers towards cycling amongst the Indian ethnic minority. The chapter starts with an introduction of why cycling is important in today’s society with a brief history of transport in and around the city and how the UK reached the cycling levels which are prevalent now. The aim in introducing these subjects was to grasp on the widespread health issues, the cost, and how cycling or any cardiovascular exercise can alleviate the strain on both health and economic expenditure. Following on, cycling statistics are then introduced from both the general population and ethnic minorities. This is to ensure that a greater understanding is achieved on how low cycling is compared to the white majority population. The chapter will then outline the thesis aims and objectives outlining how practice theory can be used as an analytical framework on increasing cycling amongst Indian ethnic minorities. 1 Cycling, where are we? Cycling in Britain has fallen from 37% in 1949 states Horton, Rosen, and Cox (2007) , to 2% of all journeys made (DfT, 2016c). Tremendous amounts of interest to plan and design cities to be more sustainable are on the increase, due to the growing concerns of pollution, obesity, congestion and physical inactivity says de Nazelle et al. (2011). With increased evidence showing that cycling is beneficial for health and environmental sustainability (de Nazelle et al., 2011). However the British governments history of transport have more often than not neglected cycling from their transport policy and are more inclined to promote car dependent societies (Tapp, Davis, Nancarrow, & Jones, 2016) . Around the first world war towards the late 1950’s the bicycle was a universal mode of transport throughout the western world however it was then superseded by motor vehicles thus lowering the percentage of bicycle use (Oosterhuis, 2016). Subsequently, during the 1970s, the numerous advantages of cycling had been highlighted by activists, politicians, health experts planners and policy makers, renowned for the clean, sustainable, and healthy mode of transport (Oosterhuis, 2016). During recent years, the increasing trepidation of climate change, traffic congestion and the decline of non-renewable energy sources has put governments and planning sectors back on route to promote active travel transportations as an alternative to driving cars (Woodcock, Banister, Edwards, Prentice, & Roberts, 2007) . An outcome that is recognised to tackle and improve health and wellbeing, traffic congestion, and fatalities along with the environmental concerns due to climate change (Giles-Corti, Foster, Shilton, & Falconer, 2010). It is now widely documented that in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to reach a more sustainable level, the transport sector, more specifically the automobile has a major role to play (Cohen, 2010; Woodcock et al., 2007). Throughout the years and into the century, urban 2 sprawl, demands on the labour market, and flexibility with increased mobility has increased resulting in the increase of cars says Haustein and Hunecke (2007). Song, Preston, and Ogilvie (2017) has stated that the growing reliance on cars has led to congestion, pollution, and physical inactivity resulting in direct and inadvertent costs to society. The authors then outline that walking and cycling has the potential to facilitate such challenges. Woodcock et al. (2007) has highlighted the link with the burning of non- renewable fuels, pollution and decreased health. Woodcock et al. (2007) states that transport related emission are having a detrimental effect to the environment, and to reverse the effects of transport pollution cities necessitate safe environments and easy access to roads and paths