Main entry:

Seiler, Cotten.

Title & Author:

Republic of drivers : a cultural history of automobility in America / Cotten Seiler.

Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Description:

x, 230 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-215) and index.
Introduction: Automobility and American subjectivity -- Individualism, Taylorization, and the crisis of Republican selfhood -- Workmen's compensation, women's emancipation: the promise of automobility, 1895-1929 -- Crafting autonomous subjects: automobility and the cold war -- "So that we as a race might have something authentic to travel by": African American automobility and midcentury liberalism -- "How can the driver be remodeled?" : automobility and the liberal subject -- Conclusion: Automobility's futures.

Summary:

"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."--Back cover.

Resources:
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
Publisher description
Contributor biographical information
Inhaltsverzeichnis

ISBN:

9780226745633 (cloth ; alk. paper)
9780226745640 (pbk. ; alk. paper)
0226745635 (cloth ; alk. paper)
0226745643 (pbk. ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Automobiles Social aspects United States History 20th century.
National characteristics, American.
Social values United States History 20th century.
Automobiles Aspect social États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Valeurs sociales États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Automobiles Social aspects.
Civilization.
Social conditions
Social values.
Kraftwagen
Kultur
Mobilität
United States Social conditions 20th century.
United States Civilization 20th century.
États-Unis Conditions sociales 20e siècle.
États-Unis Civilisation 20e siècle.
United States.
USA

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 260190
Call No.: BIB 191079
Status: Available