Cycling and society.

Abstract

How can the social sciences help to understand the past, present and potential futures of cycling? The timely international and interdisciplinary collection addresses this question, interrogating and discussing shifts in cycling practices and attitudes, and opening up important critical spaces for thinking about the prospects of cycling. Therefore, the book brings together analyses of cycling from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including history, sociology, geography, planning, engineering, and technology. The diverse issues are addressed by 9 independent papers: 1. Cycling the city: Non-place and the sensory construction of meaning in a mobile practice. (Justin Spinney) 2. Capitalizing on curiosity: Women's professional cycle racing in the late 19th century. (Clare S. Simpson) 3. Barriers to cycling: An exploration of quantitative analyses. (John Parkin, Tim Ryley and Tim Jones) 4. Hell is other cyclists: Rethinking transport and identity. (David Skinner and Paul Rosen) 5. The flaneur on wheels? (Nicholas Oddy) 6. Bicycles don't evolve: Velomobiles and the modelling of transport technologies. (Peter Cox with Frederick van de Walle) 7. Fear of cycling. (Dave Horton) 8. Men, women and the bicycle: Gender and social geography of cycling in the late 19th century. (Philipp Gordon Mackintosh and Glen Norcliffe) 9. Bicycle messengers: Image, identity and community. (Ben Fincham)