Author: Cotten Seiler
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226745651
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
Rising gas prices, sprawl and congestion, global warming, even obesity—driving is a factor in many of the most contentious issues of our time. So how did we get here? How did automobile use become so vital to the identity of Americans? Republic of Drivers looks back at the period between 1895 and 1961—from the founding of the first automobile factory in America to the creation of the Interstate Highway System—to find out how driving evolved into a crucial symbol of freedom and agency. Cotten Seiler combs through a vast number of historical, social scientific, philosophical, and literary sources to illustrate the importance of driving to modern American conceptions of the self and the social and political order. He finds that as the figure of the driver blurred into the figure of the citizen, automobility became a powerful resource for women, African Americans, and others seeking entry into the public sphere. And yet, he argues, the individualistic but anonymous act of driving has also monopolized our thinking about freedom and democracy, discouraging the crafting of a more sustainable way of life. As our fantasies of the open road turn into fears of a looming energy crisis, Seiler shows us just how we ended up a republic of drivers—and where we might be headed.
Republic of Drivers
Author: Cotten Seiler
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226745651
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
Rising gas prices, sprawl and congestion, global warming, even obesity—driving is a factor in many of the most contentious issues of our time. So how did we get here? How did automobile use become so vital to the identity of Americans? Republic of Drivers looks back at the period between 1895 and 1961—from the founding of the first automobile factory in America to the creation of the Interstate Highway System—to find out how driving evolved into a crucial symbol of freedom and agency. Cotten Seiler combs through a vast number of historical, social scientific, philosophical, and literary sources to illustrate the importance of driving to modern American conceptions of the self and the social and political order. He finds that as the figure of the driver blurred into the figure of the citizen, automobility became a powerful resource for women, African Americans, and others seeking entry into the public sphere. And yet, he argues, the individualistic but anonymous act of driving has also monopolized our thinking about freedom and democracy, discouraging the crafting of a more sustainable way of life. As our fantasies of the open road turn into fears of a looming energy crisis, Seiler shows us just how we ended up a republic of drivers—and where we might be headed.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226745651
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
Rising gas prices, sprawl and congestion, global warming, even obesity—driving is a factor in many of the most contentious issues of our time. So how did we get here? How did automobile use become so vital to the identity of Americans? Republic of Drivers looks back at the period between 1895 and 1961—from the founding of the first automobile factory in America to the creation of the Interstate Highway System—to find out how driving evolved into a crucial symbol of freedom and agency. Cotten Seiler combs through a vast number of historical, social scientific, philosophical, and literary sources to illustrate the importance of driving to modern American conceptions of the self and the social and political order. He finds that as the figure of the driver blurred into the figure of the citizen, automobility became a powerful resource for women, African Americans, and others seeking entry into the public sphere. And yet, he argues, the individualistic but anonymous act of driving has also monopolized our thinking about freedom and democracy, discouraging the crafting of a more sustainable way of life. As our fantasies of the open road turn into fears of a looming energy crisis, Seiler shows us just how we ended up a republic of drivers—and where we might be headed.
Designated Drivers
Author: G. E. Anderson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118328884
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
An in-depth look at the Chinese car industry that sheds new light on the delicate nature of China's planned economy China's unprecedented growth over the last three decades, along with the recent financial crisis in the West, has raised questions about the superiority of state-led capitalism. In Designated Drivers: How China Plans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry, G.E. Anderson, a specialist in finance and Chinese political economics, uses the auto industry to examine how China's industrial planning works, and explores whether state involvement in the economy really is a winning formula for sustainable growth. Bringing to light the strengths and weaknesses that define the Chinese economy, Anderson finds that in some ways the government has become its own worst enemy, unable to choose between industrial competitiveness and social stability. While the economy is booming now, evidence suggests that long-term success is far from assured. Tracing the evolution of the post-Mao auto industry through thirteen case studies, Designated Drivers raises the difficult questions about the future of China that few people have dared to ask. Offers a unique insight into the Chinese economy through the lens of the auto industry Explores how successful the central government has been in spurring economic growth and the long-terms costs of intervention Uses case studies to illustrate China's explosive growth over the last three decades A painstakingly researched analysis of the Chinese automobile industry, Designated Drivers explains the risks and rewards inherent in doing business in China that anyone interested in, or already working there need to understand.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118328884
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
An in-depth look at the Chinese car industry that sheds new light on the delicate nature of China's planned economy China's unprecedented growth over the last three decades, along with the recent financial crisis in the West, has raised questions about the superiority of state-led capitalism. In Designated Drivers: How China Plans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry, G.E. Anderson, a specialist in finance and Chinese political economics, uses the auto industry to examine how China's industrial planning works, and explores whether state involvement in the economy really is a winning formula for sustainable growth. Bringing to light the strengths and weaknesses that define the Chinese economy, Anderson finds that in some ways the government has become its own worst enemy, unable to choose between industrial competitiveness and social stability. While the economy is booming now, evidence suggests that long-term success is far from assured. Tracing the evolution of the post-Mao auto industry through thirteen case studies, Designated Drivers raises the difficult questions about the future of China that few people have dared to ask. Offers a unique insight into the Chinese economy through the lens of the auto industry Explores how successful the central government has been in spurring economic growth and the long-terms costs of intervention Uses case studies to illustrate China's explosive growth over the last three decades A painstakingly researched analysis of the Chinese automobile industry, Designated Drivers explains the risks and rewards inherent in doing business in China that anyone interested in, or already working there need to understand.
Traffic
Author: Tom Vanderbilt
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307373177
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
Driving is a fact of life. We are all spending more and more time on the road, and traffic is an issue we face everyday. This book will make you think about it in a whole new light. We have always had a passion for cars and driving. Now Traffic offers us an exceptionally rich understanding of that passion. Vanderbilt explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of our attempts to engineer safety and even identifies the most common mistakes drivers make in parking lots. Based on exhaustive research and interviews with driving experts and traffic officials around the globe, Traffic gets under the hood of the quotidian activity of driving to uncover the surprisingly complex web of physical, psychological and technical factors that explain how traffic works.
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307373177
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
Driving is a fact of life. We are all spending more and more time on the road, and traffic is an issue we face everyday. This book will make you think about it in a whole new light. We have always had a passion for cars and driving. Now Traffic offers us an exceptionally rich understanding of that passion. Vanderbilt explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of our attempts to engineer safety and even identifies the most common mistakes drivers make in parking lots. Based on exhaustive research and interviews with driving experts and traffic officials around the globe, Traffic gets under the hood of the quotidian activity of driving to uncover the surprisingly complex web of physical, psychological and technical factors that explain how traffic works.
Driver Behaviour and Training
Author: Dr Lisa Dorn
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1409485498
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 492
Book Description
Research on driver behaviour over the past two decades has clearly demonstrated that drivers' goals and motivations are important determinants of driver behaviour. The importance of this work is underlined by statistics: WHO figures show that road accidents are predicted to be the number three cause of death and injury by 2020 (currently more than 20 million deaths and injuries p.a.). The objective of the third volume, and of the conference on which it is based, is to describe and discuss recent advances in the study of driving behaviour and driver training. It bridges the gap between practitioners in road safety, and theoreticians investigating driving behaviour, from a number of different perspectives and related disciplines. A major focus is to consider how driver training and education needs to be adapted to raise awareness of the personal characteristics that contribute to unsafe driving behaviour with the aim of developing and reporting interventions to improve road safety. The contributors consider the novice driver problem, emotions and driver behaviour, at-work road safety, technological interventions, human factors and the road environment and rider behaviour. The readership for this volume includes researchers from a variety of different academic backgrounds, senior practitioners in road safety, including regulatory authorities, the police service, and private and public sector personnel working with drivers and motorcyclists.
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1409485498
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 492
Book Description
Research on driver behaviour over the past two decades has clearly demonstrated that drivers' goals and motivations are important determinants of driver behaviour. The importance of this work is underlined by statistics: WHO figures show that road accidents are predicted to be the number three cause of death and injury by 2020 (currently more than 20 million deaths and injuries p.a.). The objective of the third volume, and of the conference on which it is based, is to describe and discuss recent advances in the study of driving behaviour and driver training. It bridges the gap between practitioners in road safety, and theoreticians investigating driving behaviour, from a number of different perspectives and related disciplines. A major focus is to consider how driver training and education needs to be adapted to raise awareness of the personal characteristics that contribute to unsafe driving behaviour with the aim of developing and reporting interventions to improve road safety. The contributors consider the novice driver problem, emotions and driver behaviour, at-work road safety, technological interventions, human factors and the road environment and rider behaviour. The readership for this volume includes researchers from a variety of different academic backgrounds, senior practitioners in road safety, including regulatory authorities, the police service, and private and public sector personnel working with drivers and motorcyclists.
Machines of Youth
Author: Gary S. Cross
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022634178X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
For American teenagers, getting a driver’s license has long been a watershed moment, separating teens from their childish pasts as they accelerate toward the sweet, sweet freedom of their futures. With driver’s license in hand, teens are on the road to buying and driving(and maybe even crashing) their first car, a machine which is home to many a teenage ritual—being picked up for a first date, “parking” at a scenic overlook, or blasting the radio with a gaggle of friends in tow. So important is this car ride into adulthood that automobile culture has become a stand-in, a shortcut to what millions of Americans remember about their coming of age. Machines of Youth traces the rise, and more recently the fall, of car culture among American teens. In this book, Gary S. Cross details how an automobile obsession drove teen peer culture from the 1920s to the 1980s, seducing budding adults with privacy, freedom, mobility, and spontaneity. Cross shows how the automobile redefined relationships between parents and teenage children, becoming a rite of passage, producing new courtship rituals, and fueling the growth of numerous car subcultures. Yet for teenagers today the lure of the automobile as a transition to adulthood is in decline.Tinkerers are now sidelined by the advent of digital engine technology and premolded body construction, while the attention of teenagers has been captured by iPhones, video games, and other digital technology. And adults have become less tolerant of teens on the road, restricting both cruising and access to drivers’ licenses. Cars are certainly not going out of style, Cross acknowledges, but how upcoming generations use them may be changing. He finds that while vibrant enthusiasm for them lives on, cars may no longer be at the center of how American youth define themselves. But, for generations of Americans, the modern teen experience was inextricably linked to this particularly American icon.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022634178X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
For American teenagers, getting a driver’s license has long been a watershed moment, separating teens from their childish pasts as they accelerate toward the sweet, sweet freedom of their futures. With driver’s license in hand, teens are on the road to buying and driving(and maybe even crashing) their first car, a machine which is home to many a teenage ritual—being picked up for a first date, “parking” at a scenic overlook, or blasting the radio with a gaggle of friends in tow. So important is this car ride into adulthood that automobile culture has become a stand-in, a shortcut to what millions of Americans remember about their coming of age. Machines of Youth traces the rise, and more recently the fall, of car culture among American teens. In this book, Gary S. Cross details how an automobile obsession drove teen peer culture from the 1920s to the 1980s, seducing budding adults with privacy, freedom, mobility, and spontaneity. Cross shows how the automobile redefined relationships between parents and teenage children, becoming a rite of passage, producing new courtship rituals, and fueling the growth of numerous car subcultures. Yet for teenagers today the lure of the automobile as a transition to adulthood is in decline.Tinkerers are now sidelined by the advent of digital engine technology and premolded body construction, while the attention of teenagers has been captured by iPhones, video games, and other digital technology. And adults have become less tolerant of teens on the road, restricting both cruising and access to drivers’ licenses. Cars are certainly not going out of style, Cross acknowledges, but how upcoming generations use them may be changing. He finds that while vibrant enthusiasm for them lives on, cars may no longer be at the center of how American youth define themselves. But, for generations of Americans, the modern teen experience was inextricably linked to this particularly American icon.
Staging the Blues
Author: Paige A. McGinley
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822376318
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
Singing was just one element of blues performance in the early twentieth century. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and other classic blues singers also tapped, joked, and flaunted extravagant costumes on tent show and black vaudeville stages. The press even described these women as "actresses" long before they achieved worldwide fame for their musical recordings. In Staging the Blues, Paige A. McGinley shows that even though folklorists, record producers, and festival promoters set the theatricality of early blues aside in favor of notions of authenticity, it remained creatively vibrant throughout the twentieth century. Highlighting performances by Rainey, Smith, Lead Belly, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee in small Mississippi towns, Harlem theaters, and the industrial British North, this pioneering study foregrounds virtuoso blues artists who used the conventions of the theater, including dance, comedy, and costume, to stage black mobility, to challenge narratives of racial authenticity, and to fight for racial and economic justice.
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822376318
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
Singing was just one element of blues performance in the early twentieth century. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and other classic blues singers also tapped, joked, and flaunted extravagant costumes on tent show and black vaudeville stages. The press even described these women as "actresses" long before they achieved worldwide fame for their musical recordings. In Staging the Blues, Paige A. McGinley shows that even though folklorists, record producers, and festival promoters set the theatricality of early blues aside in favor of notions of authenticity, it remained creatively vibrant throughout the twentieth century. Highlighting performances by Rainey, Smith, Lead Belly, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee in small Mississippi towns, Harlem theaters, and the industrial British North, this pioneering study foregrounds virtuoso blues artists who used the conventions of the theater, including dance, comedy, and costume, to stage black mobility, to challenge narratives of racial authenticity, and to fight for racial and economic justice.
The Fractured Republic
Author: Yuval Levin
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465093256
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
Americans today are frustrated and anxious. Our economy is sluggish, and leaves workers insecure. Income inequality, cultural divisions, and political polarization increasingly pull us apart. Our governing institutions often seem paralyzed. And our politics has failed to rise to these challenges. No wonder, then, that Americans -- and the politicians who represent them -- are overwhelmingly nostalgic for a better time. The Left looks back to the middle of the twentieth century, when unions were strong, large public programs promised to solve pressing social problems, and the movements for racial integration and sexual equality were advancing. The Right looks back to the Reagan Era, when deregulation and lower taxes spurred the economy, cultural traditionalism seemed resurgent, and America was confident and optimistic. Each side thinks returning to its golden age could solve America's problems. In The Fractured Republic, Yuval Levin argues that this politics of nostalgia is failing twenty-first-century Americans. Both parties are blind to how America has changed over the past half century -- as the large, consolidated institutions that once dominated our economy, politics, and culture have fragmented and become smaller, more diverse, and personalized. Individualism, dynamism, and liberalization have come at the cost of dwindling solidarity, cohesion, and social order. This has left us with more choices in every realm of life but less security, stability, and national unity. Both our strengths and our weaknesses are therefore consequences of these changes. And the dysfunctions of our fragmented national life will need to be answered by the strengths of our decentralized, diverse, dynamic nation. Levin argues that this calls for a modernizing politics that avoids both radical individualism and a centralizing statism and instead revives the middle layers of society -- families and communities, schools and churches, charities and associations, local governments and markets. Through them, we can achieve not a single solution to the problems of our age, but multiple and tailored answers fitted to the daunting range of challenges we face and suited to enable an American revival.
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465093256
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
Americans today are frustrated and anxious. Our economy is sluggish, and leaves workers insecure. Income inequality, cultural divisions, and political polarization increasingly pull us apart. Our governing institutions often seem paralyzed. And our politics has failed to rise to these challenges. No wonder, then, that Americans -- and the politicians who represent them -- are overwhelmingly nostalgic for a better time. The Left looks back to the middle of the twentieth century, when unions were strong, large public programs promised to solve pressing social problems, and the movements for racial integration and sexual equality were advancing. The Right looks back to the Reagan Era, when deregulation and lower taxes spurred the economy, cultural traditionalism seemed resurgent, and America was confident and optimistic. Each side thinks returning to its golden age could solve America's problems. In The Fractured Republic, Yuval Levin argues that this politics of nostalgia is failing twenty-first-century Americans. Both parties are blind to how America has changed over the past half century -- as the large, consolidated institutions that once dominated our economy, politics, and culture have fragmented and become smaller, more diverse, and personalized. Individualism, dynamism, and liberalization have come at the cost of dwindling solidarity, cohesion, and social order. This has left us with more choices in every realm of life but less security, stability, and national unity. Both our strengths and our weaknesses are therefore consequences of these changes. And the dysfunctions of our fragmented national life will need to be answered by the strengths of our decentralized, diverse, dynamic nation. Levin argues that this calls for a modernizing politics that avoids both radical individualism and a centralizing statism and instead revives the middle layers of society -- families and communities, schools and churches, charities and associations, local governments and markets. Through them, we can achieve not a single solution to the problems of our age, but multiple and tailored answers fitted to the daunting range of challenges we face and suited to enable an American revival.
A Genealogy of the Good and Critique of Hubris
Author: Phillip Dybicz
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197670075
Category : Public welfare
Languages : en
Pages : 441
Book Description
""Is this intervention effective?" This is a question that social workers have asked themselves since the birth of the profession and which social welfare agents have asked since the birth of our country. In our attempts at advancing the social welfare of the client and society, it is essential that we constantly evaluate the impact of our interventions. Over the years, however, the above question has yielded some surprising answers. During the Colonial era, those individuals suffering from mental illness who demonstrated a proclivity for aberrant and sometimes harmful behaviors were locked away in barns or small rooms. During the late 1800s in New York City, social welfare agents organized the orphan trains, sending poor immigrant children-many who were not orphans-out to the more "wholesome" environment of family farms in the Midwest. In the 1950s, social workers placed themselves in the role of social police by conducting midnight 'raids' (i.e. unscheduled visits at midnight) at the homes of welfare recipients to ensure that welfare mothers were not benefiting from a man's company in secret, and thus, disqualifying themselves from receiving aid. Looking upon these interventions with our present eyes, from a viewpoint firmly grounded in notions of self-determination and empowerment, our profession can easily see the moral failings of these interventions. From these examples, as a profession we are able to note that simply applying good intentions-by themselves-are not adequate to ensure effective and worthy interventions. We are also able to note that simply having an outcome measure is not enough to ensure the worthiness of an intervention, as the examples above contained easily measured outcomes"--
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197670075
Category : Public welfare
Languages : en
Pages : 441
Book Description
""Is this intervention effective?" This is a question that social workers have asked themselves since the birth of the profession and which social welfare agents have asked since the birth of our country. In our attempts at advancing the social welfare of the client and society, it is essential that we constantly evaluate the impact of our interventions. Over the years, however, the above question has yielded some surprising answers. During the Colonial era, those individuals suffering from mental illness who demonstrated a proclivity for aberrant and sometimes harmful behaviors were locked away in barns or small rooms. During the late 1800s in New York City, social welfare agents organized the orphan trains, sending poor immigrant children-many who were not orphans-out to the more "wholesome" environment of family farms in the Midwest. In the 1950s, social workers placed themselves in the role of social police by conducting midnight 'raids' (i.e. unscheduled visits at midnight) at the homes of welfare recipients to ensure that welfare mothers were not benefiting from a man's company in secret, and thus, disqualifying themselves from receiving aid. Looking upon these interventions with our present eyes, from a viewpoint firmly grounded in notions of self-determination and empowerment, our profession can easily see the moral failings of these interventions. From these examples, as a profession we are able to note that simply applying good intentions-by themselves-are not adequate to ensure effective and worthy interventions. We are also able to note that simply having an outcome measure is not enough to ensure the worthiness of an intervention, as the examples above contained easily measured outcomes"--
Roadside Americans
Author: Jack Reid
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469655012
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
Between the Great Depression and the mid-1970s, hitchhikers were a common sight for motorists, as American service members, students, and adventurers sought out the romance of the road in droves. Beats, hippies, feminists, and civil rights and antiwar activists saw "thumb tripping" as a vehicle for liberation, living out the counterculture's rejection of traditional values. Yet by the time Ronald Reagan, a former hitchhiker himself, was in the White House, the youthful faces on the road chasing the ghost of Jack Kerouac were largely gone—along with sympathetic portrayals of the practice in state legislatures and the media. In Roadside Americans, Jack Reid traces the rise and fall of hitchhiking, offering vivid accounts of life on the road and how the act of soliciting rides from strangers, and the attitude toward hitchhikers in American society, evolved over time in synch with broader economic, political, and cultural shifts. In doing so, Reid offers insight into significant changes in the United States amid the decline of liberalism and the rise of the Reagan Era.
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469655012
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
Between the Great Depression and the mid-1970s, hitchhikers were a common sight for motorists, as American service members, students, and adventurers sought out the romance of the road in droves. Beats, hippies, feminists, and civil rights and antiwar activists saw "thumb tripping" as a vehicle for liberation, living out the counterculture's rejection of traditional values. Yet by the time Ronald Reagan, a former hitchhiker himself, was in the White House, the youthful faces on the road chasing the ghost of Jack Kerouac were largely gone—along with sympathetic portrayals of the practice in state legislatures and the media. In Roadside Americans, Jack Reid traces the rise and fall of hitchhiking, offering vivid accounts of life on the road and how the act of soliciting rides from strangers, and the attitude toward hitchhikers in American society, evolved over time in synch with broader economic, political, and cultural shifts. In doing so, Reid offers insight into significant changes in the United States amid the decline of liberalism and the rise of the Reagan Era.
Social Control of the Drinking Driver
Author: Michael D. Laurence
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226469546
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
Social Control of the Drinking Driver lays the groundwork for a much needed integration of methods, principles, and priorities. Law, criminology, biology, psychology, sociology, economics, public policy -- the disciplines concerned with the problem of drinking and driving are many and varied, and research crosses national boundaries as well. Drawing on fourteen specialists and surveying the situations in nine countries, this book presents a comprehensive statement of current knowledge about drunken driving and its control. - Back cover.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226469546
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
Social Control of the Drinking Driver lays the groundwork for a much needed integration of methods, principles, and priorities. Law, criminology, biology, psychology, sociology, economics, public policy -- the disciplines concerned with the problem of drinking and driving are many and varied, and research crosses national boundaries as well. Drawing on fourteen specialists and surveying the situations in nine countries, this book presents a comprehensive statement of current knowledge about drunken driving and its control. - Back cover.