Ellen LAGRELL, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Excessive car use strongly contributes to a series of pressing environmental and social problems, and reductions are greatly needed. A challenge to reductions in car use, however, is the deep intermeshing of car use with the organization of everyday life, and how we relate to time and space. The private car allows for speedy, flexible, and private mobility in ways that other means of transportation can hardly compete with. Meanwhile, in Sweden, 17 percent of the adult population live in households without car ownership[1]. While this carless group may often struggle with insufficient accessibility to necessary amenities, they can also be constructively viewed as performing altermobile practices – defined as mobility practices beyond the private car (Ravalet, 2012, Vincent-Geslin, 2014).
Organized outdoor and sports activities, sometimes taking place remotely or requiring the coordination of equipment, is a context in which car use may often be convenient. The practice of such activities is a potential driver of car use and, thus, a challenge for the carless. This study aims to investigate the interplay of altermobile practices and different types of organized, active leisure practices. Supported by social practice theories, the study is specifically concerned with the conditions for altermobile practices in the socio-material arrangements (Schatzki, 2010) of leisure practices. The study builds empirically on in-depth interviews with carless practitioners of Scouting, Orienteering, and Soccer. The results can help gain an understanding of barriers to reducing car dependence, as well as the conditions for new solutions and shifting social norms regarding everyday mobility.
[1] This data is extracted from the Swedish National Travel Survey (2011-2016).
Mots clés : Sustainable mobility|Altermobility|Social practices|Leisure activities
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