Moral Panic and Electric Micromobilities: Seeking Space for Mobility Justice

This article makes the case that electric micromobilities (EMMs) are the site of a moral panic and employs the lens of mobility justice to explain it. Through analysis of scholarly and media discourse, interviews with, and social media content produced by, EMM riders (eriders), and the auto ethnogra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological perspectives 2024-06, Vol.67 (1-3), p.83-108
Main Authors: Travers, Scott, N., Reed, K. J., Hall, P., Winters, M., Kwan, G., Park, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of daily living
Electricity
Ethnography
Everyday life
Fear & phobias
Infrastructure
Insight
Justice
Legitimacy
Mass media effects
Mass media images
Mobility
Moral panic
Public spaces
Social media
Transportation policy
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Summary:This article makes the case that electric micromobilities (EMMs) are the site of a moral panic and employs the lens of mobility justice to explain it. Through analysis of scholarly and media discourse, interviews with, and social media content produced by, EMM riders (eriders), and the auto ethnographic experiences of the lead author as an electric unicycle rider in daily life, as a participant in online and offline “erider” communities, and as a food delivery worker, we reinforce the conclusion that alternate mobilities face an uphill battle in gaining legitimacy and inclusion in transportation policy and infrastructure. While this is not a new finding—alternate mobilities have a long history of being demonized and excluded—this article offers insight into how individuals who find themselves unwitting scapegoats in conflicts over public space consciously engage in deliberate actions to resist EMM panic and achieve greater mobility justice.
ISSN:0731-1214
1533-8673
DOI:10.1177/07311214231193355