{"id":186,"date":"2025-10-14T09:19:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T09:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/sociologyofeverydaylife\/?post_type=content&p=186"},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:09:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:09:49","slug":"chapter-13","status":"publish","type":"content","link":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/sociologyofeverydaylife\/students\/chapter-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 13 \u2013 Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chapter 13 \u2013 Cars<\/h1>\n\n\n
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Chapter Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cars are an ideal example for understanding how our stuff has profound cultural and material dimensions. Cars are not only a means of transportation but a powerful marker of identity. How you get around\u2014whether by car or truck, bike or bus\u2014depends on your financial means, but it can also say something about the image you want to project. Certain cars are strongly associated with masculinity, and can also be a way to signal racial or ethnic identities. Cars are symbolically dense cultural commodities, but they are also material goods that can help us understand shifting economic structures, especially the transition from a Fordist economy of industrial manufacturing to a post-Fordist economy. Car culture also offers a clear example of how social structures work to shape our decisions by providing specific opportunities and constraints regarding our transportation. Outlining these social structures promotes a systemic understanding of social outcomes, an understanding that greatly improves on explanations that focus on individuals\u2019 decisions. North Americans\u2019 love affair with the car is longstanding but has its share of challengers. Choosing different modes of transportation (e.g. bikes, public transit, hybrid cars) has become an important way to signal environmental concern about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and may also offer an exit strategy from the stresses of mainstream car culture (e.g. car payments, traffic, road rage). As such, thinking sociologically about cars demonstrates how people do not uncritically accept consumer culture; the car industry is powerful, but it does not erase human agency. Car culture inspires desire amongst consumers for the latest products, but knowledge of the material implications of car culture works to animate environmentalism and social movement engagement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Further Reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alam, Yunis. 2020. Race, Taste, Class and Cars: Culture, Meaning and Identity<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policy Press. Chapter 4, \u201cConsuming Cars: Class, Ethnicity, and Taste.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chapter examines how car consumption reflects patterns of class and ethnic stratification, focusing on a Pakistani-heritage community in the United Kingdom. It highlights how car ownership in this community evolved from a functional necessity to a marker of status and integration, shaped by economic mobility and cultural integration. Drawing on Bourdieu\u2019s concept of habitus, the chapter embeds participants\u2019 tastes for cars in their social positions as working-class, second-generation immigrants. The author also critiques public and mass media narratives that marginalize working-class and ethnic car cultures, showing how taste functions as both a reflection of and a tool for negotiating class and ethnic boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion questions<\/summary>\n
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  • How do social forces like class and ethnicity shape the meanings and aspirations associated with car ownership?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • How do car cultures enable both cultural integration and stigmatization for marginalized groups?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • How do notions of \u2018good\u2019 and \u2018bad\u2019 taste relate to broader social inequalities?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • In what ways do media portrayals of car culture marginalize working-class and minority ethnic communities, and how do these portrayals reinforce social divisions? How does the author\u2019s approach differ from these representations?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

    Kennedy, Emily H., and Carly Hamdon. 2023. \u201cDo People Who Drive Trucks Care About the Environment?\u201d Contexts<\/em>, 22(3): 18-23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This article explores the social and moral judgments embedded in discourses around consumption and the environment. Based on interview data, the authors outline a \u201chierarchy of environmentalism,\u201d or a set of cultural classifications that link social status to eco-friendly consumption practices. Class distinctions play a crucial role in shaping this hierarchy, as practices like driving electric cars or buying organic food often require significant investments of cultural and economic capital. While eco-friendly practices are seen as markers of moral superiority, those who cannot (or do not) adopt these consumer practices are perceived as less responsible or caring. They argue that this hierarchy fosters social and political polarization, impeding collective efforts to address pressing environmental issues including climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Discussion questions<\/summary>\n
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    • What is the hierarchy of environmentalism? How do ideas about ethical consumption influence how we think about environmental issues and responsibilities?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • How do class relations, including inequalities of cultural and economic capital, shape the hierarchical classification of environmental attitudes and practices?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • How does this classification system contribute to political polarization around environmental issues like climate change?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • How can recognizing and respecting alternative relationships to the environment, such as those of \u201cresistant\u201d or \u201canti-environmentalists,\u201d contribute to more effective environmental action?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

      Schor, Juliet B., Willaim Attwood-Charles, Mehmet Cansoy, et al. 2020. \u201cDependence and Precarity in the Platform Economy.\u201d Theory and Society<\/em>, 49(1): 833-861.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The rapid expansion of platform-based labor, as exemplified by companies like Uber and Airbnb, has raised critical questions about job precarity and algorithmic control. Through in-depth interviews, the authors find that workers\u2019 dependency on platform income plays a key role in shaping their experiences: those relying on platforms to meet basic expenses face greater precarity and dissatisfaction, while those using platform earnings as supplemental income report higher satisfaction, greater autonomy, and better earnings. This contrast stems from supplemental earners\u2019 ability to reject low-paying or undesirable tasks, whereas dependent workers often feel compelled to accept any opportunity to secure income. The authors argue that the sharing economy is not a monolith but comprises a diverse workforce with varying levels of agency and dependence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Discussion questions<\/summary>\n
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      • How does the rise of the sharing economy reflect the broader transition from Fordist models of stable employment to post-Fordist economies characterized by flexibility, decentralization, and precarious work arrangements?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • How do platforms use algorithmic control to manage workers, and how does this differ from traditional forms of labor management? <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • How do workers\u2019 level of economic dependence on platform income shape their experiences and work satisfaction? What implications does this have for understanding labor precarity in the sharing economy?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • What do the authors mean when they argue that platforms \u201cfree-ride\u201d on conventional labor markets? What does this mean for the relationship between platforms and socio-economic inequalities?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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        Quizzes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Test your knowledge with the Chapter 13 quizzes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        Quiz<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n