Automobilityöa social problem and theoretical concept

Modern societies have given rise to a number of technical artefacts, which have become paradigmatic during the time of their expansion. One of late modernity's most recognised and contested objects is the automobile. In its current technical formation, the automobile has become the prime means of transportation in most of the industrialised countries. It both signifies a distinct way of moving in space and time, and has given birth to a particular mobility paradigm. Automobilisation as a modern mobility paradigm is interwoven into the tissue of contemporary society. For many of us it provides`normal spatial mobility', that is, the type of spatial mobility routinely exercised day after day. This paradigm, however, has produced a number of anomalies that are often seen to threaten the further existence of automobilisation. Or to put it in other words, automobilisation has produced risks that have a disruptive cultural and ecological effect, which in turn threaten the very foundations of this mobility paradigm. The growth of such automobilisation risks has caused some to claim that we are now witnessing the end of the car as we know it (Canzler and Knie, 1994). Others argue that environmental degradation of all sorts will put a limit to the further expansion of the motorcar (Vester, 1990). This, however, has proven to be wishful thinking (Canzler and Knie, 1998). Automobilisation, I will argue in this paper, is not necessarily in danger of extinction. Automobilisation is rather in a constant state of change, reacting to and reacting upon social transformations in a dialectic process. Against this background, my overall aim in this paper is twofold. First, I intend to make a more theoretical contribution to a `sociology of transport and mobility' by exploring contemporary auto-scapes as well as the subjects and objects that live and act in these spaces. Second, I would like to cast some light on what could be termed`reflexive automobilisation' and, thus, show how automobilisation risks are defined and dealt with by both their subjects and their objects.