My Phd Thesis 2

My Phd Thesis 2

Moving beyond physical mobility: blogging about urban cycling and transport policy Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Laura Golbuff Abstract It is often acknowledged that movement exists in multiple, interdependent forms and that we live in an Information Age. However, mobilities perspectives on contemporary cycling tend to neglect the a) interconnections between transport (physical mobility of people and objects) and communication (mobility of symbolic information) b) paradigmatic shifts in modernity that affect how and why we communicate about transport. This thesis responds to such neglect. Firstly, it places urban cycling in an internet context by examining practices and perceptions of policy blogging, asking why do individuals blog about cycling-related transport policy and to what effect? Secondly, it analyses the answers to these questions through the theoretical lens of the risk society and reflexive modernisation theses. Empirical data is the result of 46 semi-structured interviews with bloggers and expert system representatives, mostly in London, New York and Paris. Blogging about cycling-related transport policy is shown to be an individualised response to the perceived failings of expert systems, as well as in Giddens’ words, a ‘reflexive project of the self’. Citizens who may otherwise only be policy subjects or passive consumers of transport, emerge as policy, media and civil society actors by virtue of their ability to publish information, which forms the basis of social relations. Through blogging, they produce and mobilise knowledge. Knowledge claims mediated by blogging interact with expert systems responsible for transport, which in turn adapt; routine institutional practices evolve; a new order emerges; blogging makes a difference. That difference is however limited, not least because the public remains reliant on expert systems. Ultimately, despite the obvious importance of physical mobility to cycling, this thesis seeks to move beyond it. Information and communication technologies have radically altered how we - researchers, the public, expert system representatives - communicate about and understand cycling, and as such, this project argues for a renewed emphasis on mobilities in a genuinely plural sense of the word as being about more than physically moving from A to B. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Thesis in Brief............................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Structure of Thesis........................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 2: Literature Review................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Mobilities....................................................................................................................... 7 Mobilities and Transport................................................................................................. 7 Transport and Communication....................................................................................... 9 Mobilities and Modernities............................................................................................ 11 Mobilities Section Summary......................................................................................... 14 2.2 Risk............................................................................................................................ 14 Risk Society and Reflexive Modernisation................................................................... 14 Transport Risk.............................................................................................................. 16 Reflexive Mobility......................................................................................................... 17 Individuals, Institutions, Systems ................................................................................ 18 (Sub)Politics................................................................................................................. 20 Citizenship................................................................................................................... 21 Risk Section Summary................................................................................................. 24 2.3 Knowledge.................................................................................................................. 24 Expert Knowledge as Uncertain, Distrusted, Conflicted...............................................24 How Knowledge is Produced and Who Produces It..................................................... 27 Informationalism and Knowledge-based Societies ...................................................... 29 The Internet as a Self-Organising System....................................................................30 Self-Organisation, Knowledge Production, Knowledge (Sub)Politics ..........................32 Knowledge Section Summary...................................................................................... 34 2.4 Chapter Conclusions: Literature Review..................................................................... 34 Chapter 3: Methodology........................................................................................................ 36 3.1 Unit of Analysis, Field Sites, Research Questions, Qualitative Approach....................36 Blogging....................................................................................................................... 36 Policy Blogging............................................................................................................ 39 Field Sites ................................................................................................................... 40 On Comparative and Qualitative Research, Research Questions ...............................43 3.2 Mobile Methods, Interviews ...................................................................................... 45 Mobile Methods ........................................................................................................... 45 Semi-Structured Interviews ......................................................................................... 50 3.3 Recruitment, Technique, Coding and Analysis, Positionality .....................................54 Recruitment.................................................................................................................. 54 Figure 1: Interview participants by field site and stakeholder type................................57 Technique ....................................................................................................................57 Analysis, Coding and Theoretical Framework.............................................................. 59 Positionality.................................................................................................................. 62 3.4 Chapter Conclusions: Methodology............................................................................ 64 Chapter 4: Context................................................................................................................ 66 4.1 The State as an Expert System.................................................................................. 66 Policy Targets for Cycling and Private Car Use ........................................................... 67 Cycling-Related Transport Policy in London.................................................................69 Cycling-Related Transport Policy in New York..............................................................70 Cycling-Related Transport Policy in Paris.................................................................... 72 Political Acceptability of Cycling................................................................................... 74 Section Summary: The State as an Expert System......................................................76 4.2 Instituted Media as an Expert System.........................................................................77 Newspapers and Cycling............................................................................................. 77 Mediating Perceptions of Risk...................................................................................... 78 Shift Towards Favourable Media Coverage of Cycling................................................. 80 Media and the Promotion of Policy............................................................................... 81 Section Summary: Instituted Media as an Expert System............................................ 82 4.3 Cycling’s Civil Society as an Expert System............................................................... 83 Civil Society Organisations...........................................................................................83 Disparity Within Cycling’s Civil Society.........................................................................84 Integrationism and Segregationism: Conflicting Strategic Preferences in London .......86 Movement Spin-Offs and Informal Advocacy Networks................................................ 89 Section Summary: Cycling’s Civil Society as an Expert System...................................90 4.4 Cycling Policy Blogospheres.......................................................................................90

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