Authors
Peter Wood
Publication date
2019/6/22
Journal
Transfers
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
123-126
Publisher
Berghahn Books, Inc.
Description
How do we get from an automobile-constrained present to a bicycle-based future, and what could that everyday life entail--culturally, socially, and sensorially? This short book attempts a lot. For the field of cycling studies, Bicycle Utopias is a comprehensive, fast-paced, and encyclopedic engagement with the contemporary state of cycling in the Global North, particularly Europe. It combines diverse empirical material with a sweeping body of academic theory, focused on the cultural and experiential social sciences. The overarching analytical rational is to use utopias as empirical objects; historically situated and subjectable to structured methods or processes of cultural critique. This allows past utopias to be deconstructed, and new, alternatives proposed--with academic rigor and for public benefit. Cosmin Popan's study combines a cornucopia of inspirational (sometimes fictional) cultural objects and urban policy …