Governmentalities of automobility in times of climate change: competing logics of circulation and imaginaries of the (im)possible

If we are to achieve climate change targets, transport systems need to transform. This article is concerned with the prospects of challenging the regime of automobility in urban areas. It employs a governmentality framework, alongside theories of automobility, in order to analyse mobility government...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mobilities 2024, Vol.19 (4), p.773-788
Main Authors: Hellberg, Sofie, Knutsson, Beniamin, Löwgren, Sara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Annan samhällsvetenskap
Automobiles
Automobility
Circulation
Climate change
Climate effects
Climate Research
Gothenburg
Governmentality
imaginaries
Klimatforskning
Mobility
Other Social Sciences
Public officials
Stakeholders
temporality
Transportation systems
Urban areas
urban climate policy
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Summary:If we are to achieve climate change targets, transport systems need to transform. This article is concerned with the prospects of challenging the regime of automobility in urban areas. It employs a governmentality framework, alongside theories of automobility, in order to analyse mobility governmentalities in Gothenburg, Sweden. Gothenburg is an interesting case in the context of reducing car use given its identity as a 'car city.' Despite this, Gothenburg has high ambitions in terms of reducing car traffic. Reaching these goals are however associated with challenges: prognoses predict a continued increase in car traffic, and political acceptance is viewed as an obstacle. The article's findings are based on semi-structured interviews with public officials and stakeholders, zooming in on (1) conflicting spatialities and temporalities (2) competing logics of circulation and pace and (3) mobility imaginaries of the (im)possible. We argue that while there are new logics entering urban mobility governmentalities as an effect of the climate transition, their possibilities to affect material change are confined because the movement and circulation of 'people and things,' ultimately represented by the private car, are closely tied to the way that freedom is exercised, understood and manifested in contemporary liberal societies.
ISSN:1745-0101
1745-011X
1745-011X
DOI:10.1080/17450101.2024.2319763