Social inequalities in the cycling experience

Convenors: Justin Spinney, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. Claire Pelgrims, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Cycling is an increasingly common mode of transport in urban areas (Goel et al. 2022), although the proportion of journeys made by bicycle varies considerably from one country to another and from one city to another. Active mobility is increasingly taken into account in public policies, but these tend to overlook the impact and persistence of mobility policies on social inequalities (Nogueira 2023). Recent work has highlighted the way in which new cycle infrastructure networks can reinforce socio-spatial segregation (Jahanshahi et al. 2021). The narrow framing of cycling's potential as a replacement technology for the car favours the utilitarian cyclist and reduces the diversity of cycling repersentations and practices (Spinney 2020; Valentini 2024). The issue of equity in utilitarian cycling is multifaceted and essential, whether in terms of access to infrastructure and to key destinations or cycling policies in general (differentiated knowledge of supply, road safety, etc.). Bringing together researchers in history, sociology, geography, urban studies, and beyond, this panel is dedicated to exploring the past and present of these social inequalities in the experience of cycling through consideration of the embodied and situated experience of cycling, as well as the meanings and imaginaries of bicycles within different social groups. Participants are especially invited to present papers on the spatiality, materiality and sensitivity of cycling infrastructure networks, the resulting accessibility of infrastructure and equipment, and the issues this raises in terms of the inclusiveness of the transition to sustainable mobility. The session seeks to understand these issues across urban and rural contexts with a wide range of case studies and plural approaches. The objectives are to discuss desirability differentials according to social class, gender, ethnic and socio-economic status, and their fluctuations over time. The session seeks to provide an overview of current cutting-edge research in this field.

Mobility

For the Mobile Lives Forum, mobility is understood as the process of how individuals travel across distances in order to deploy through time and space the activities that make up their lifestyles. These travel practices are embedded in socio-technical systems, produced by transport and communication industries and techniques, and by normative discourses on these practices, with considerable social, environmental and spatial impacts.

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Please send your abstract (300 words) and bio (100 words) to both claire.pelgrims@ulb.be and jaspinney@gmail.com by 22 March 2024, and include the session name when submitting your paper by 24 March 2024 to t2m@leibniz-ifl.de. Proposals should also include the title, name, affiliation, and email address. Further informations about the conference: https://t2m.org/2024-conference-call-for-paper/