Cycling Interaction Rituals in the Conflict against the Car. From the Bike Subculture to the City Scale and Beyond

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mobility scholars have long been interested in challenging the automobile’s hegemony in the street, particularly by highlighting how to develop urban cycling. The article contributes to this task by explaining how one type of conflict between the bike and the car, exemplified notably by the critical mass, fosters cycling. The characteristics of this type of conflict need to be deciphered. The paper uses the interaction ritual (IR) theory to tackle this challenge. The IR theory hypothesizes that extraordinary IRs foster identification with a group, and motivate individual action. Moreover, these special IRs, often conflictual and taking place after crises, are the basis of lasting groups. This article connects IR theory to the act of riding a bike and identifying as a biker. We apply these hypotheses to two French bike workshops active in the cycling subculture. In these workshops, I observed the organization of extraordinary IRs in conflict with the car -e.g. critical masses and other mobilizations- and daily IRs around emblems created during extraordinary IRs. I also conducted interviews about the germinal role of IRs during crises in the history of each workshop. The empirical findings show that in successful conflicts against the car, bike activists are present in high numbers to stop car traffic. Simultaneously, these special IRs are non-violent, playful, and temporary. Three forms of cycling IRs correspond to this definition: oppositional, iconoclastic, and alternative IRs. These forms of IRs seem to be more efficient during small or large-scale crises.