The car, the streetscape and inter-ethnic dynamics
The car, the streetscape and inter-ethnic dynamics
Chapter 6 emerged as an irresistible topic which very powerfully augmented many of the points made elsewhere in this book. Whilst acknowledging the significance of the car and the urban myths about the driving habits of young Asian men; this chapter provides at one level an insight into the intensive investment of individuals into a particular interest (in this case their cars), to the extent that it comes to constitute the basis for a very strong sub-cultural identification amongst its practitioners. This chapter is redolent of untrammelled enthusiasms, and of networks of sharing, that constitute an example of an invisible vitality within a community like Manningham. It points to the importance of identifying and acknowledging the potential of such enthusiasms for enriching lives in urban contexts that may to others appear to be without charm. The car also provides an insight into the differential employment of social and economic wealth within and across ethnic communities. This chapter also necessarily notes the unfortunate capacity of the car to provide a particularly potent means of inter-ethnic irritation on the streetscape of an urban area. The car is revealed to be a potent symbolic marker of intergroup relations.
Keywords: automobility, car culture, cultural incorporation, sub-culture, ownership and identity, being ‘cut-up’, intergroup posturing
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