Nina Ginsberg, Author at Bicycles Create Change

22/04/201927/04/2019

More space. Bicycle Politics: Review Essay. (4 of 4)

Here is the fourth and last in the US bicycle politics review essay series written by Dr Jennifer Bonham. This review detailed three key texts. The first post outlined the socio-political context to set the scene. The second post reviewed the book ‘Pedal Power: The quiet rise of the bicycle in American public life’ while the last post focused on Zack Furness’ ‘One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility’. This post looks at Jeff Mapes’ Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities’ which rounds off a very comprehensive and informed discussion about the history and activities of bicycle politics in the USA. This book in an especially valuable inclusion to this discussion given that according to Dr Bonham ‘it comes the closest to conjuring a culture of cycling which values diverse mobilities’ of all the books reviewed. A massive thank you to Dr Bonham for sharing her research, thoughts and passion. Enjoy! NG.

Mapes, J. (2009). Pedaling revolution: How cyclists are changing American cities. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.

More Space

Jeff Mapes’ Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities targets a general readership as he traces changes in the status and popularity of cycling in the United States. A senior political reporter with The Oregonian, Mapes’ sympathy for bicycling is informed by debates over the livability of American cities, health and the built environment, and the costs of suburbanization and automobile-oriented transport systems. Mapes does not explicitly challenge fundamental notions of technological progress or dominant values of individualism and materialism. Rather, he argues, automobile-oriented transport systems bring a range of problems—suburban sprawl, affordability, exclusion and constraint— that will worsen into the future. His analysis is concerned with the formal political institutions—parliament, elected and appointed officials in all spheres of government, legislation, funding arrangements—he believes are essential to increasing bicycle use.

Mapes introduces his book with a description of the different people to be observed riding bicycles in North American cities today. As he challenges cycling stereotypes, he is also quite aware this latest turn to bicycling may be short lived, just one more crest in a series of highs and lows that reach from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The bright moments for “everyday” cycling in the United States have occurred under “not so everyday” conditions. The 1940s boom came with wartime petrol rationing and the 1970s boom amid the fuel shortages of the oil crisis. But Mapes traces threads from the 1970s to the present day as he identifies the people (bike advocates, bureaucrats, industry representatives, politicians), maps the legislation (ISTEA), and describes the ideas and programs (e.g. Safe Routes to School) he believes have enabled a recent resurgence in cycling.

Once he has positioned the United States on the brink of change, Mapes turns his attention to the Netherlands for a glimpse of what the future might hold. He provides a detailed description of the infrastructure, road rules, etiquette, legislation, and funding arrangements in place in the Netherlands. Mapes emphasizes the importance of the Dutch government’s political will in re-orienting the transport system to accommodate all modes of transport (not just the automobile) and, in contrast to Wray, he explains this re-orientation largely in terms of the 1970s oil crisis.

Mapes, like Wray, discusses the various roles played by bike advocates, advocacy groups, activist events and sympathetic politicians in developing a culture of cycling in U.S. cities. The discussion is rich with examples as he takes readers on a cycling tour of three U.S. cities: the university town of Davis, California; Portland, Oregon; and New York. Combining tour with commentary, Mapes describes the streets he cycles along and uses buildings, landmarks, and pieces of infrastructure as entry points into the network of people, organizations, events and opportunities he argues have been instrumental in the development of local cycling cultures. The “bicycle tour” through these cities is particularly useful as it situates cycling within the broader context of debates about public space, sub/urbanization, urban planning and transport. In doing this, Mapes draws back from the car versus bike dichotomy bringing into view myriad elements, actions and relations that make up the urban landscape and shape mobility practices today.

Mapes’ cycling advocacy is keen but measured. In the final chapters, he focuses on the three issues he clearly considers to be at the heart of livable cities: cyclist safety, health, and children’s independent mobility. He presents a useful summary of the contrasting views of “cyclist safety” from prominent U.S. cycling activists—including John Forester’s “vehicular cycling,” Randy Neufield’s traffic calming approach and Anne Lusk’s segregated bikeways—and discusses their implications for transport infrastructure, public space and the conduct of the journey by bike.

These debates currently reverberate in developed and developing countries across the globe. As Mapes places the bicycle within a broader sub/urban context, he presents research into the health benefits of cycling alongside discussions between geographers, planners, transport, and health researchers on the role of the built environment in facilitating— or not—active modes of travel. Finally, Mapes examines the decline of cycling in children’s everyday mobility in the United States and discusses the competing concerns over sedentary lifestyles, children‘s independent mobility and parental responsibilities.

Pedaling Revolution is not explicit in its theoretical underpinnings nor does it problematize the power relations through which bicycles/bicycling/ bicyclists have been marginalized in contemporary American culture. Further, Mapes’ discussion of bicycle culture tends to be overshadowed by the role he attributes to politicians and bureaucrats in bringing about change. But what is crucially important about Pedaling Revolution is that it places cycling within a broader spatial and mobility context than either Wray or Furness allow. In doing this, Mapes comes closest to conjuring a culture of cycling which values diverse mobilities.

Centering Cycling?

Each of these books advocates for cycling as they explore its position in the United States and reflect on bringing about change. They are important in their efforts to persuade a broader audience—beyond the committed cyclist—of the benefits of public investment in cycling; demonstrating alternative (more or less radical) ways of being in the world; providing insights into how cycling advocates and sympathizers have intervened in decision-making processes; the rich and detailed examples of the individuals, groups, places, and processes that have been pivotal in fostering change—and the pitfalls to be overcome.

However, their efforts to centre cycling within their respective analyses meet with mixed success. As Wray and Furness introduce cycling through a dichotomous relation with the automobile, the bicycle is immediately “de-centered” and, despite demonstrating alternative futures the struggle for change remains daunting. Their political strategy is to “grow” cycling cultures outward into the broader population so that an increasing number of people come into the “fold” of cycling. Arguably, Mapes retains cycling at the centre of the analysis through reference to broader spatial and mobility contexts. In doing this, his strategy is to foster general conditions which value cycling—a culture which welcomes bicycling without demanding mass participation or positioning cyclists as victims needing concessions or protests.

Dr Jennifer Bonham is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide. She has a background in human geography specializing in urbanization and cultural practices of travel. Her research focuses on devalued mobilities as it explores the complex relationship between bodies, spaces, practices, and meanings of travel. Her current research explores the gendering of cycling. Jennifer’s work is informed by a concern for equitable and ecologically sustainable cities.

Contact details: School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia. jennifer.bonham@adelaide.edu.au

This excerpt is from: Bonham, J. (2011). Bicycle politics: Review essay. Transfers, 1(1), 137. doi:10.3167/trans.2011.010110.

Images and hyperlinks included here are not part of the original publication.

17/04/201926/04/2019

Less Cars. Bicycle Politics: Review Essay. (3 of 4)

Welcome back to this third post in a series of four taken from Dr Jennifer Bonham’s Bicycle Politics Review Essay IDEAS IN MOTION: ON THE BIKE. In the first post, Dr Bonham provided the background and context for the three bicycle politics books she reviews. The second post reviewed the book ‘Pedal Power: The quiet rise of the bicycle in American public life’. In this post, she reviews Zack Furness’s ‘One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility’. This book is a personal favourite of mine. I have a copy on my desk and I love that this book is a reiteration of Furness’s PhD Dissertation. It was also the first time I saw the term BIKETIVISM. Books like this one keep me motivated in my own community bicycle PhD research. If you get a chance, read this book. It is comprehensive, thought-provoking, full of interesting bike facts and is incredibly well-researched. A must read for any cyclist! Thanks again to Dr Bonham. Enjoy! NG.

Furness, Z. (2010). One less car: Bicycling and the politics of automobility. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Less Cars

Zack Furness is an assistant professor in cultural studies at Columbia College, Chicago. His book One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility is a revised version of his Ph.D. dissertation and it is impressive in its scope and detail. Furness carves out a place for
cycling both in the formation of automobility, which he locates in the late
nineteenth century, and as a point of resistance to it. The bicycle, he argues,
played a central role in a series of cultural transformations in “mobility,
technology, and space” (16). These transformations included the construction of a “mobile subjectivity,” the development of a meaning system around personal transportation and the disciplining of bodies and environment to long-distance, independent mobility (17).

These transformations, according to Furness, were key components in the new “system of automobility.”9 Following from this, the automobile did not initiate cultural transformations; rather, the automobile itself “made sense” because these transformations had already taken place. Furness acknowledges cycling was not alone in bringing about some of these changes but he regards it as a proto-type of automoblity so that “automobiles provided an almost logical solution to the culture of mobility forged by cyclists and the bicycle industry” (45).

Having argued that cycling played a key role in the formation of automobility, the substantive chapters of One Less Car operate as point and counterpoint to the automobile norm. In Chapter Three, Furness discusses the early twentieth century growth in automobile ownership, legislative changes regarding conduct on the streets, and the modification of public space to facilitate motor vehicle movement. These changes are explained in terms of the automobile-industrial complex, which facilitated production and consumption on a massive scale. The discussion then turns to cycling as a point of resistance to this complex. Furness locates the emergence of U.S. cycle activism in the 1960s/1970s and places cycling organizations, advocacy groups and activism at the centre of challenges to the automobile that run through to the present day. Like Wray, he explores the role of different political actors and actions in creating alternative mobility cultures, illustrating the case with a detailed and multi-layered account of Critical Mass.10

Moving to contemporary society, Furness is particularly concerned with the mechanisms by which cycling is devalued in relation to the automobile and focuses on specific cultural products—film, television shows, road- safety pedagogy and news reporting—for the way they have created and maintained automobile norms. Bike riding characters in films such as Pee- wee’s Big Adventure and television shows like Get a Life infantilize and emasculate cyclists while road-safety “documentaries” effectively prepare child-bicyclists to become adult-motorists. In terms of news reporting, he argues, cycling has been represented favorably in times of crisis—the war effort and petrol rationing—but more recently power relations have been turned on their head as motorists are positioned as victims of the inept or elitist behavior of cyclists.

Less Cars. Bicycle Politics: Review Essay. 3 of 4. Bicycles Create Change.com. 17th April, 2019. — Image: Contra Texts

As a counterpoint to these negative representations, the remaining chapters offer thick descriptions of cycling sub-cultures in the U.S. These chapters are the real strength of One Less Car, offering insights into an aspect of U.S. cycling that, until recently, has been overlooked. They examine the linkages within specific sub-cultural groups between bicycling, environmentalism, community development and anti-consumption. These include the “Do it Yourself/Do It Ourselves” ethos of the punk musicians who have embraced bicycling, bike messengers and mutant bike clubs.

Furness also explores the important role of community bike projects within disadvantaged localities as they provide places for people to gather and access resources and knowledge that is usually unavailable. He examines the role that specific projects have played in supplying bikes to people within their own local communities and, with a more critical eye, the place of such projects in developing countries as they assist in creating alternative global networks.

Furness also examines the more problematic aspects of cycling sub-culture—the pervasive sexism of cycling in the U.S. and the assumptions that underpin bicycle projects in developing countries. Furness finishes the book with a brief review of the shift of bike manufacturing out of the U.S. to low-wage countries and contemplates the potential of the industry to once again provide employment in the U.S.

Furness attempts to place the bicycle at the centre of the analysis but, like Wray, he re-inscribes the bicycle/automobile dichotomy and despite paying careful attention to one set of cultural transformations he ignores others. Furness does not draw attention to the micro-political processes through which decisions about the material formation of cars and bikes have been (and continue to be) made. Nor does he relate the bicycle or the automobile to broader discussions in the late nineteenth century about the spatialization of activities and the development of cities, which included the urban industrial economy; urban efficiency, sub/urbanization and public health. Although Furness examines contestation within the various cultural transformations he describes, there is an air of finality in these transformations that offers little hope of change.

Finally, as Furness identifies bicycle activism as the key point of resistance to the automobile in the anti-freeway protests of the 1960s/1970s, he overlooks the efforts of local communities, built environment professionals, politicians, and academics in questioning freeway planning.

Notes

10. Critical Mass is a regularly staged bike ride in cities around the world that brings cyclists together in a blend of political statement and celebration of cyclists.

Contact details: School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia. jennifer.bonham@adelaide.edu.au

This excerpt is from: Bonham, J. (2011). Bicycle politics: Review Essay. Transfers, 1(1), 137. doi:10.3167/trans.2011.010110.

Images and hyperlinks included here are not part of the original publication.

12/04/201926/04/2019

Pedal Power. Bicycle Politics: Review Essay. (2 of 4)

Welcome back to this second post in a series of four taken from Dr Jennifer Bonham’s Bicycle Politics Review Essay IDEAS IN MOTION: ON THE BIKE. In the last post, Dr Bonham (Uni of Adelaide) provided an introduction and background for this essay and established the histo-politico-social context. This post reviews the first (of three) American books on Bicycle Politics. Thanks again to Dr Bonham. If you have not yet read this book, check out this review and see if you want to head to your local library for more. Enjoy! NG.

Wray, J. H. (2008). Pedal power: The quiet rise of the bicycle in American public life. Boulder, CA: Paradigm Publishers.

Pedal Power

J. Harry Wray’s Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life is an immensely readable account of the nascent shift toward bike friendliness in the United States. Wray has written both a cycling advocacy text and, as a professor of politics at De Paul University in Chicago, an accessible introductory text for students taking courses in culture and politics. Each chapter offers an entry point into discussions about the nature of politics, political theory, the mechanisms that foster particular meanings and values over others, and the processes of political struggle and change.

The early chapters of Pedal Power establish the background for the pivotal third chapter after which the discussion turns to the development of a bicycle culture and the process of creating political change. Wray opens his case with a “bicycle view” strategy—that of the touring cyclist— to contrast the embodied experiences and social interactions enabled through cycling and car driving. He uses a familiar set of concepts in making this comparison: the surface of the road reverberating through the body; muscles responding to topography; elements assailing the flesh.

Further, the fact of sitting “on” a bike and “in” a car facilitates different types of relations with co-travelers (those who walk, ride, drive (passenger) alongside), “by-standers” (those not going anywhere—for the moment), and other species and things. Wray links these different experiences of mobility to different political positions arguing the bicyclist tends to a more progressive (and preferable) politics as the cyclist is always located within his/her context whereas driving tends to isolate and insulate motorists from their environment.

Clearly, the bicycle and the motorcar will enable different experiences and interactions but Wray misses a number of opportunities by simplifying the argument into a bicycle versus car dichotomy. It works toward fixing differences between cars and bikes and smoothes over the processes through which bodies, machines, materials, spaces, and concepts have been, and continue to be, wrought together. Further, it limits our view of other ways of getting around and the diversity of experiences and interactions these enable. To illustrate this point, we could assemble cycling (racing, utility, etc.), walking (jogging, running), taking the tram, bus or train, riding a scooter, wheelchair or sled, skateboarding, being a passenger in a car, driving a truck, taxi or automobile, rickshaw cycling, parcour and rollerblading. We could then question the apparatuses through which these particular categories have been created, or excised, from the mass of human experience and bracketed into discrete sets of mobility. Picking apart these categories (the practices, emotions, concepts, materials and interactions they entail) is a political tactic through which we would scramble our existing categories, create new ones and challenge the valuing or prioritization of any one set of practices over another. The point Wray makes in contrasting bicycling and driving is to challenge the privilege accorded to motoring practices. However, he also re-inscribes the car/bike hierarchy as he seeks to value the very characteristics through which cycling has been devalued.

The second and third chapters contrast the politics and culture of bike riding in the Netherlands and the United States. Wray explains bicycle culture in the Netherlands in terms of a sense of shared responsibility and a political pragmatism that was brought to bear on the 1960s/1970s backlash against the motor vehicle. This explanation prepares the ground for a discussion of cycling and motoring in relation to the core American values of individualism and materialism. He is specifically concerned with whether and how cycling and motoring foster and extend each of these values. The “myth” of individualism, and its strong links to materialism, are explained as the outcome of the country’s Protestant roots, (initial) fluid class system and the stories Americans tell about their long frontier history. This individualism was transformed through the process of industrialization where it was reconstituted as “personal product choices” (61).

It is within this context that the motor vehicle figures as a symbol and mechanism for the further elaboration of consumption and individualism. The motorcar represents the U.S.’s extreme form of individualism— isolation and separation. Writing in the lead-up to the 2008 election campaign, Wray argues that growing disillusionment and discontent in the United States provides fertile ground for alternative cultural norms. The bicycle is a symbol of that alternative. Importantly, Wray links the bicycle to both a “tamer” form of individualism and community cohesion. Rather than the bicycle being a “private” means of transport, Wray emphasizes the particular social interactions it enables thereby making a powerful challenge to the traditional public/private transport dichotomy.

The second half of Pedal Power is devoted to challenging current cultural norms, the mechanisms by which participation in everyday cycling is being encouraged and the role of different players working inside and outside formal political processes to revalue the bicycle. Wray devotes a chapter each to the role of: individual cyclists and advocates who provide alternative ways of seeing and being in the world; bike advocacy groups which reinforce each other as they lobby for funding and legislative changes from the national through to the local scale; bicycle activism that engages the wider citizenry in bicycle politics by encouraging participation in myriad bike-related activities; and sympathetic politicians who can influence legislation and funding decisions to further the interests of cycling. These chapters are alive with detail as Wray offers numerous examples of the people, groups, activities, and legislative changes he believes are facilitating a culture of bicycle use and political change.

Contact details: School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia. jennifer.bonham@adelaide.edu.au

This excerpt is from: Bonham, J. (2011). Bicycle politics: Review essay. Transfers, 1(1), 137. doi:10.3167/trans.2011.010110.

Images included here are not part of the original publication.

08/04/201926/04/2019

The Solution of Cycling. Bicycle Politics: Review Essay. (1 of 4)

Work on my community bicycle PhD research project requires me to read a lot of academic literature on bikes. Whilst it is my immense pleasure, there is always more to read. Recently, I came across a review essay by Dr Jennifer Bonham (University of Adelaide) that summarised and appraised three key (and popular) American ‘bicycle politics’ books. This essay a very interesting read as it identifies critical histo-politico-social aspects of bicycling from each of the books in an accessible, succinct and thoughtful way. Woohoo! What a gift! So here is Dr Bonham’s full essay IDEAS IN MOTION: ON THE BIKE as a series of four blog posts. This first post covers the intro and background, followed by three more – one post each reviewing, in turn, the three bicycle books below. A massive thank you to Jennifer for her analytical synthesis explaining why riding a bike is a political act. Enjoy! NG.

Wray, J. H. (2008). Pedal power: The quiet rise of the bicycle in American public life. Boulder, CA: Paradigm Publishers.
Furness, Z. (2010). One less car: Bicycling and the politics of automobility. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Mapes, J. (2009). Pedaling revolution: How cyclists are changing American cities. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.

Bicycle Politics: Review Essay. The Solution of Cycling. 1 of 4. Bicycles Create Change.com. 8th April, 2019. — Image: Golfian.com

Introduction: The Solution of Cycling

by Dr Jennifer Bonham (University of Adelaide).

Since the mid-1990s, bicycling has been identified as a solution to problems ranging from climate change and peak oil to urban livability, congestion and public health. A plethora of guidelines, strategies, policy statements, plans and behavior change programs have been produced— especially in industrialized countries—in an effort to encourage cycling. Despite many localities registering increases in cycling over the past decade, English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and United States continue to have extremely low national rates of cycling. The benefits of cycling are widely accepted and barriers well documented but changes are slow, uneven, and often contested. The disjuncture between government rhetoric and commitment to bicycling (via legislation, funding, infrastructure) foregrounds the broader cultural and political context within which cycling is located.

Implementing pro-cycling1 policies is difficult in cultural contexts where bicycles/bicyclists are set in a hierarchical relation with automobiles/ motorists and the latter valued over the former. It is equally difficult to effect cultural change when decision makers fail to prioritize cycling on the political agenda. A key research problem has been to understand how the hierarchical relation between different travel practices has been established and reproduced. Often, this problem is approached by centering the automobile in the analysis:2 a tactic which positions the motor vehicle in a series of dichotomous relations with “other” travel practices—private/public, motorized/non-motorized, choice/captive.

Such dichotomous approaches have been widely criticized for re-creating rather than undermining established hierarchies.3 An alternative tactic involves unpicking the mechanisms through which these categories are produced and bodies are differentially valued. Recently the bike has been placed at the centre of the analysis in an effort to unsettle its persistent marginalization. However, this type of analysis will be limited if it simply reproduces the bicycle/automobile dichotomy.

Throughout the late twentieth century, “cyclists” and everyday practices of cycling have been constituted through concepts and research practices within the field of transport and positioned as problematic—in terms of safety, efficiency, orderliness. But the past 15 years4 have seen researchers from a range of disciplines—health, political science, geography, sociology, urban planning and transport—creating new “versions” of cycling.5 As they centre bicycling in their work and offer recommendations on “what is lacking” and “what should change” they also provide insights into the mechanisms by which cyclists have been explicitly excluded from or marginalized within public space, academic study and public policy. This literature is a fundamental part of political and cultural change not so much for the veracity of its claims but in re-constituting cycling as an object of study and opening the path to alternative ways of thinking about and practicing mobility.

From the early 2000s, there has been a steady growth in research into practices of cycling and cycling sub-cultures.6 Arguably, this ethnographically oriented work can be traced to Michel de Certeau’s seminal essay Walking in the City,7 which made apparent the historical and cultural specificity of contemporary travel practices. There has been a steady growth in research into particular travel/mobility practices and sub-cultural groups who identify through their mobility.8 The study of local cycling groups and cycling sub-cultures challenges hegemonic meanings, which devalue bicycling, and offers alternative mobility futures. They can also link bike riders to more mainstream values and beliefs thereby questioning their marginal status. The very practice of riding a bike and/ or being part of a cycling sub-culture is implicitly political as it challenges dominant forms of mobility. However, some individuals and sub-cultural groups are explicitly political as they use the subject position of cyclist as a means by which to resist exclusion and advocate for bike riding.

The books reviewed in this paper examine the bicycle culture-politics nexus in the context of the United States. They provide explanations for the marginalization of cycling but more particularly they are concerned with how to bring about change. Each author addresses culture and politics to different degrees, recognizing them as inextricably linked but emphasizing one or the other in their analyses. They draw upon research from health and environmental sciences, architecture, urban, and transport planning to support their arguments rather than reflecting on this knowledge as a fundamental part of contemporary culture or cultural change. Culture is discussed in terms of the sites through which meanings are attached to cycling—especially film and television, literature, advertising, and news reporting—and how these are being challenged through the bicycle cultures and everyday mobility practices that form part of a growing social movement in cycling.

Notes

Pedestrians, public transport users, scooter riders, roller bladers and so forth could be included along with cycling.
For example, James Flink, The Car Culture (Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1975); Peter Freund and George Martin, The Ecology of the Automobile (Montreal: Black Rose Books Ltd 1993); Mimi Sheller and John Urry, “The City and the Car,” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 24 no. 4 (2000): 737–757.
Feminists from Butler to Hekman have been at the forefront of this critique. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (New York: Routledge, 1990); Susan Hekman, The Material of Knowledge: Feminist Disclosures (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010).
This timeline reflects research into everyday cycling in English-speaking countries.
Borrowing Annemarie Mol’s theorization of different versions of reality, I want to suggest we do not have a single object (the cyclist) which is studied through a different lens by each discipline; rather we create the cyclist in different ways through the methodologies we use within each discipline. Annemarie Mol, The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002).
The Ethnographies of Cycling workshop held at Lancaster University in 2009 included presentations from a number of researchers working in this area since the early 2000s. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/centres/cemore/event/2982/
Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984).

Contact details: School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia. jennifer.bonham@adelaide.edu.au

This excerpt is from: Bonham, J. (2011). Bicycle politics: Review essay. Transfers, 1(1), 137. doi:10.3167/trans.2011.010110.

Images included here are not part of the original publication.

04/04/201915/12/2019

PhD Researcher Intern Wanted

As part of my PhD research and work at Griffith University, I get a few opportunities to work on research projects. At the moment, I am at capacity and full workload so no new work for me. But one PhD researcher/ intern vacancy come across my desk this week I thought might be interesting for a few Brisbane-based PhD readers. Here it is. Good luck! NG.

Project details

Applications Close: 24th April 2019
Reference: APR – 849A
Payment: $3,000 per month stipend
Location: Spring Hill, Brisbane QLD (although travel may be required)
Duration: 4 months
Proposed start date: May/June 2019
Contract company: APR Intern

Project Background

Veterans, particularly younger veterans without Gold Cards, report significant challenges in accessing appropriate General Practice support, as well as medical specialists related to chronic medical conditions and surgical services. Finding medical specialists who understand the package of health issues faced by veterans can be a challenge. Finding medical specialists who are also willing to engage with the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) payment system, where healthcare is eligible for DVA funding, is a second and significant challenge.

Often, veterans report that they have attempted to navigate the complex civil healthcare system only to find their referred specialist is unwilling to provide services at DVA rates. This forces the veteran to return to their General Practitioner for a new referral, or in many cases, veterans drop out of the health system until their condition deteriorates where healthcare costs are known to escalate.

Research to be Conducted

In Phase 1 of the project, a series of questionnaires, surveys and feedback tools will be applied to the younger veteran target population. These questionnaires and surveys will be delivered through a combination of face-to-face, telephone and online survey instruments. Using a combination of Likert scale and open questions, these surveys will allow the team to refine the set of issues and barriers for the second Phase of the investigation.

In Phase 2 of the health project, the project team will combine the results of desktop research with the initial survey results attained in Phase 1 to further refine the areas of investigation. The Project Team will then interview and survey a number of health specialists to understand their attitudes to veteran healthcare and issues they see in providing care to this population.

Deep-dive interviews will also be conducted with younger veterans in this second phase of the project to better understand the summary issues and barriers identified through the surveys conducted in Phase 1.

Skills Required

We are looking for a PhD student with the following:

ESSENTIAL

Mixed method research experience, but particularly qualitative research
Strong experience in stakeholder engagement and communication

DESIRABLE

Health system understanding and experience

Expected Outcomes

This project will result in a clear understanding of the issues and barriers preventing ease of access to civil healthcare for younger veterans, as well as their attitudes toward access of both GP and medical specialist healthcare.

The results of this project will then allow a clear roadmap of strategies to address barriers to access, from both the provider side (health specialists), younger veterans and for funders (DVA).

We anticipate that the project will also involve recommendations and strategies around care coordination and case management, given the complexity of the civil healthcare system, and such strategies would also include their own engagement and communication strategies to increase the awareness of suitable services for younger veterans.

Additional Details

The intern will receive $3,000 per month of the internship, usually in the form of stipend payments.

It is expected that the intern will primarily undertake this research project during regular business hours, spending at least 80% of their time on-site with the industry partner. The intern will be expected to maintain contact with their academic mentor throughout the internship either through face-to-face or phone meetings as appropriate.

The intern and their academic mentor will have the opportunity to negotiate the project’s scope, milestones and timeline during the project planning stage.

We recommend that you liaise with the Graduate Research School (GRS) and/or Higher Degree Research (HDR) Placements Office at your university, prior to submitting an application, to validate your eligibility to participate in the APR.Intern program.

31/03/201920/04/2019

Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival 2019

This guest blog post by Jen Sheean is about the Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival. Onthe night, The Style over Speed crew rode from Brisbane city to the cinema at St Lucia, where the incredible cycOZ performed an infectious bicycle-inspired percussion set on arrival (see end photos). Last year, Bella and I entered our film Leki, which took out the People’s Choice Award. This year, I gave my tickets to Jen, a fellow singlespeed MTBer who had not been to the festival before. Not only did Jen have a good time, but she kindly wrote a summary of the films shown. Thanks so much Jen! See you all at the Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival next year! Enjoy! NG.

Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival 2019

Thanks to the generosity of Nina, my husband and I spent a slightly wet Friday night at the Schonell Theatre in UQ enjoying the Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival.

It was a wonderful night and very well-attended. As I understand it, the change this year to a bigger venue meant that the previously sold-out event still had some tickets available. This is a great development because, in my opinion, more people should head to it and see what it has to offer.

I plan to go again!

The first half of the night saw some announcements from Mark Bailey, the Minister for Cycling (as I understand is his preferred title having moved on from being mangocube), about the newly opened Gateway Bicycle Path and some upcoming projects for more bicycle paths in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. Announcements of more paths are always a happy thing in this somewhat cycling challenged city of ours.

Space for Cycling is the organiser of the event and they should be congratulated on how smoothly it ran. Their drive to push for safer ways to travel by bicycle in the CBD appears boundless – and I hope they see some decent success soon.

After the formalities, it was on to the short films competing for prizes, including the People’s Choice Award which was won last year by a film in which the indefatigable Nina was heavily involved.

Brisbane Bike Bites

These short films must be no more than 5 minutes and have some connection to both Brisbane and cycling. There was a range of approaches to these very broad criteria but that just added to the fun.

The first film was called I Love to Ride My Bicycle. It was a spiffy 1:37 long but it had everyone laughing from beginning to end. The concept was simple but brilliantly executed.

The next was The Gate. Another simple concept but the credits were the real star of this film. They were full of tongue-in-cheek references greatly appreciated by the audience – so much so that they (the film makers not the credits) took out the People’s Choice Award.

Pedal-mentry provided a fascinating look at a club that is populated by people who have customised their bicycles. Some of the creations were totally whacky! But the individuality shown by all of the bicycles is a testament to the creativity of their owners.

On the Fly followed a ride around Brisbane. Then it had a cat at the end. I really liked the cat.

Club Song Film was true to its name. It showcased the vocal talents of a penny farthing club. They all dressed in era-specific garb and seemed to be having a jolly old time in their singalong around the piano.

Inspired by a similar era, A Jaunty Jaunt took out first prize. The highlight was the juxtaposition of the olde time costume and penny farthing bicycle of the main character and his meeting with his modern day counterpart. It was a truly fun concept.

Finally, the last bite sized film was The Epic of Spring Hill. This faux-documentary about an intrepid pair attempting to summit Spring Hill was a delight from start to finish. The bike skills on display while riding City Cycles were impressive but I particularly liked when they decided to climb the steps up to the summit using a rope and the lead climber thought briefly about cutting the rope holding his companion. Spoiler alert: They did reach the summit by bike but it appears their claim to be the first to do so has been disputed.

The Main Feature

These very clever short films were followed by the main feature. The Bicycles of Wrath is a film in which 5 mates from Victoria decide to follow, by bike, the route taken by the ill-fated Joad family in the Steinbeck novel, The Grapes of Wrath.

It was beautifully done and showcased the generosity of those with little to give in a way that nicely mirrored Steinbeck’s underlying theme. I truly enjoyed it. I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in Steinbeck, bicycles, travel or human nature.

We left the event wondering how it is we’d never been before.

That said, we will be there next year and I recommend you consider going as well!

28/03/201920/04/2019

Bow Bells Ring

Bow Bells. Bicycles Create Change.com. 27th March 2019.

The other day I was riding my bike along the foreshore. It was a busy day, with cyclists, pedestrians and families all out enjoying the sunshine. It made me happy and I thought how nice it would be to interact more with the environment and people around me.

It reminded me of the Bow Bells Ring project by artist Colin Priest, which was an installation commissioned as part of the 2011 London Olympics.

I really love this creative and community-minded bicycle project.

It perfectly captures everything this blog holds near and dear. So for those who have not heard of this project before – here is ye olde favorite community bike project gem. Enjoy!

What is Bow Bells Ring?

The idea is simple. UK artist Colin Priest collected 100 bicycle bells of all kind of sizes, shapes and loudness and installed them strategically along well-used public paths.

Each bell was attached to a small wooden stick and had its number and a little blurb detailing the project.

Then, each bell was installed at critical experimental points along a public route linking the Greenway, Capital Ring towpath and Stratford High Street. Visitors could download an app to get a tour map of all the bell locations.

Cyclists, pedestrians and locals could ring the bells and interact with the project however they liked. Priest found that some of the bells were modified by passers-bys (de/increasing loudness).

This project not focuses on bicycles and active transportation, but also uses recycling and low-tech approaches. It is innovative and encourages community engagement and an appreciation for the local environment.

What more could you want in a community bike art installation?!

The aim was to highlight safety and interactivity, promote use of local public spaces, increase awareness for biking and community interaction, and to bring some happy cheer to the area.

The installation followed the main bikeways through some gorgeous parklands, along a river and through the urban green spaces. The bells were also thoughtfully situated in order to reflect the environments, the surrounding locals who live there and to encourage a little more participation as people moved through the social and environmental surrounds.

Below is a video of Colin Priest explaining his project.

This project was commissioned by View Tube Art, as part of Bicycle Wheel for the CREATE11 Festival. Bow Bells was funded by the Arts Council England.

This idea would be a lovely addition to any bicycle pathway.

I’d like to see more interactive bicycle-inspired community art installations like this.

Here’s to hoping!

All images are stills taken from the two View Tube videos included in the blog.

23/03/201913/04/2019

Bicycle math in primary school

We all know that bicycles have a direct positive impact on quality of life.

There are umpteen ways bicycles improve our lives: health, fitness, environmental, friendships, mental health, transport, employment opportunities, leisure, competition, and travel are just a few.

Bicycles can also play a key role in education and intellectual development.

Bicycles are increasingly being used in teaching and learning. For young learners, bicycles are familiar, yet have a complex technical component that makes their design, engineering and physics unique – also also perfect for math-related learning!

Previously, we have looked at how bicycles are used in higher education:

But it is also good to see bicycles being integrated into primary school math classes. Online, a number of proactive and innovative teachers have created and freely share their bicycle-related math lessons.

There are so many ways to improve numeracy and problem-solving skills using bicycles.

It is impressive to see how bicycles can be used to learn key math principles like patterns and algebra, fractions, decimals and percentages, angles, units of measurement, place value, operations, location and transformation, problem-solving, chance, shape, graphs and data, mathematics investigations and numbers skills – especailly at hte primary levels.

Designing a bicycle Helmet – 4^th grade

One of the more novel bicycle math resources I saw was for 4^th graders to learn about bike helmet design. I like this lesson, becuase it was not just about counting bicycle icons, but actually using different aspects of bicycle riding to explore a range of math concepts with early learners.

This resource came fromTeaching Engineering – STEM curriculum K-12. It designed by Making the Connection, Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN).

For this piece of work, students gain experience of the engineering principles needed to design safety gear. Students are introduced to the biomechanical characteristics of helmets, and are challenged to incorporate them into designs for helmets used for various applications. By doing this, they come to understand the role of engineering associated with safety products. To do this effectively, helmets must have some sort of crushable material to absorb the collision forces and a strap system to make sure the protection stays in place. The exact design of a helmet depends on the needs and specifications of the user.

This comprehensive resource also includes info on Engineering principles, learning objectives, educational standards justification, materials and a whole heap of worksheets exploring different aspects of helmet design.

Bicycle math in primary schools

There are also heaps of worksheets and online quizzes that can be used in class or for homework to reinforce and practice key math skills like multiplication, addition, fractions and calculating speeds, distances and other measurements.

Here are just a few examples:

Below are some examples of how bicycles are being used for primary school math. What a great way to promote bicycles and learn math!

I certainly would have been more engaged in my early math classes if we applied what we were learning to ‘real world’ scenarios with something as familiar, fun and useful as bicycles.

I’d love to see more bicycles being used in school curriculum!

18/03/201913/04/2019

2019 International Women’s Day

2019 International Women’s Day.

As well as wearing my The Cycle of Objectification outfit all day, I also attended a few afternoon IWD women artist events at Griffith Uni, Southbank.

I wanted to attend these events to support the showcase of feminist voices and feminist work.

I was especially keen to hear what some Brisbane feminist artists had to say and see how they were translating their explorations of feminist issues through their art practice.

A big thanks for FARC (Feminist Art Rebel Collective) and in particular Deborah Eddy and Claire Tracey.

Like me, quite a few participants had made sashes, costumes, or were dressed in IWD colours.

The first event I went to was at the Grey Street Gallery to hear Brisbane artist Genevieve Memory speak about her exhibition Semiotics of the Dress. This exhibition looked at the history and social significance of dresses.

Next were three other local artists Jodie, Ashley and Renee, who are currently exhibiting at the Machinery Gallery Windows, also spoke about their work and ideations.

From there the crowd moved to the Glass Box space. The Glass Box had a very interesting curated exhibition showcasing a number of under grad female art students. It was a very interesting exhibition drawing on a rage of voices, experiences and issues. As well as music and artists explaining their work, the curators also explained their process and intentions for the exhibition.

There was also a live gig by Brisbane musician Taana Rose (below), which was a real treat!

There was also a proto-installation by a duo (I am sorry, I didn’t get their names!) who have an upcoming exhibition. They created a sample of their work yet to be installed in the concourse to explain their conceptualisations and what they wanted to achieve. I really liked the outdoor/interactive aspect of this presentation. It great to use the art college public space to share art with passers-by.

I really enjoyed all the artist talks and have a new appreciation for the amount of work and thought that these talented artists apply to their practice.

I was stoked to see that Louise Mayhew (Griffith Uni) had organised (for the third year) a Wikipedia-edit-a-thon. Wikipedia is one of the largest websites on the internet, with more than 40 million articles in more than 250 different languages, but women make up less than 10% of editors. This means women’s stories aren’t being told. This event is where you can edit Wikipedia to include women of note who do not currently have a presence on Wikipedia, or who are underrated, forgotten or invisible.

What a great idea!

I immediately started researching a range of female cyclists and bike riders who are yet to be fully recognised, or who have been forgotten in history who need to be included.

It was an action packed day full of creativity, community, and activism.

What a way to celebrate International Women’s Day!

13/03/201928/03/2019

IWD: The cycle of objectification

International Women’s Day (March 8^th) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The theme this year was #BalanceforBetter.

To celebrate this event last year, I looked at how the suffragettes had to fight to ride bicycles. What an incredible story!

For 2019 International Women’s Day, I wanted to take some direct action. So, I made an Objectification of women outfit to wear all day.

The cycle of objectification

The issue I am addressing is the objectification and commodification of women.

The base is a green skirt and purple top as per the International Women’s Day colours (white, purple and green). With it, I wore a necklace, headdress and a sash I had made.

The outfit is all made of recycled materials.

It uses bicycle inner tubes, wheel spokes and bike parts, broken jewellery, second-hand objects and curb-side barbie dolls.

The sash is reminiscent of a beauty pageant, yet echoes the idea that even though women may feel free to move, they are in many ways still ‘keep in line’.

The blondes are at the top, while the brunette (representing any/every ‘other’) is at the bottom of ‘the beauty hierarchy’.

The chocker necklace is made with doll’s high heel shoes to represent the awkward uncomfortablity of women’s fashion.

The headpiece mixes themes of gender expectations, worship, money, sex, religion, plastic surgery and armour together into a quasi-tiara-cum-pagan headdress.

What was the reaction?

I wore this outfit throughout the day. I was working across two Griffith Uni campuses on the day. This meant that I not only wore it at work and in my classes (much to the amusement of my students), but also around the academic office sand in any meetings I went to as well as on public transport going to and between campuses on the day.

The morning train ride was the most interesting. It was a packed peak-hour train and most people who were crammed in were still waking up. Some people looked at me as if I was crazy. It did take some guts to wear this on the early morning packed commuter train. We were sandwiched in and there was a big group of school kids who were standing behind me looking on incredulously when I asked a fellow traveller to take a quick photo.

I took a few photos throughout the day at different locations – like the one below with Captain Marvel which I just couldn’t resist– hilarious!

I was surprised by how many staff and academics asked for photos.

The students totally got it.

All day I had random calls of ‘good on ya!’, ‘Happy Women’s Day’ and ‘looks great!” which was lovely. I had a strapping young guy call out over the street ‘I love your headpiece!’ and wave, which was awesome.

I know I looked over the top.

I designed the headdress in particular to be a little provocative and to be a little uncomfortable to look at. I wanted my nose to ‘poke out’ between her naked legs.

There were a few design features I had built into the outfit that had a lot more meaning to it than you could get just by looking at it. The brave few who had the guts to come up and talk me were the ones who got to hear about all the intricate nuances, motifs and details.

As an ensemble, it is bright, unusual and low-tech. I wanted to mash lots of ideas together. A surprising number of people came up to chat to me about the outfit and to see it up close.

The outfit was a good way to start discussions about important women’s issues. I felt like this year I was raising eyebrows and raising awareness!

More Space

Centering Cycling?

Less Cars

Introduction: The Solution of Cycling

Project details

Project Background

Research to be Conducted

Skills Required

Expected Outcomes

Additional Details

Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival 2019

Brisbane Bike Bites

The Main Feature

What is Bow Bells Ring?

Designing a bicycle Helmet – 4th grade

Bicycle math in primary schools

2019 International Women’s Day.

The cycle of objectification

What was the reaction?

Designing a bicycle Helmet – 4^th grade