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Cracks in the gearbox of car hegemony: struggles over the German Verkehrswende between stability and change

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  • Tobias Haas

Abstract

The automobile permeated Western societies in the twentieth century and enjoys hegemonic protection. Nevertheless, profound changes in mobility are looming, posing new challenges for mobility research. This article develops a four-dimensional understanding of hegemony, which encompasses the integral state, material and ideological dimensions and people’s everyday practices, in order to analyse the changes in mobility. The Gramscian approach is characterized by a profound conception of power relations and serves as an instrument for analysing social struggles and related actor constellations. This understanding not only enables a precise determination of the hegemonic safeguarding of the automobile, but also of the emerging fractures in the automotive consensus and the perspectives of counter-hegemonic strategies. Based on this Gramscian perspective, the article analyses the safeguarding and brittleness of car hegemony in Germany. It is concluded that although windows of opportunity have opened for a less car-centric mobility regime, these currently lack a fundamental politicisation of the car and involvement of labour required to innovate beyond narrow ecological modernisation, which would see only moderate modal shift and technological uptake of post-fossil drivetrains while otherwise leaving the hegemony of the car unchallenged.

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  • Tobias Haas, 2020. "Cracks in the gearbox of car hegemony: struggles over the German Verkehrswende between stability and change," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(6), pages 810-827, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rmobxx:v:15:y:2020:i:6:p:810-827
    DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2020.1817686
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Velden & Joost Dessein & Laurens Klerkx & Lies Debruyne, 2023. "Constructing legitimacy for technologies developed in response to environmental regulation: the case of ammonia emission-reducing technology for the Flemish intensive livestock industry," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 649-665, June.
    2. Ruhrort, Lisa & Zehl, Franziska & Knie, Andreas, 2021. "Untersuchung von Einstellungen gegenüber einer Neuaufteilung öffentlicher Räume zulasten des Autoverkehrs: Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Befragung im Berliner Bezirk Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg sowie ," Discussion Papers, Research Group Digital Mobility and Social Differentiation SP III 2021-602, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    3. Mayer, Marius & Bichler, Bernhard Fabian & Pikkemaat, Birgit & Peters, Mike, 2021. "Media discourses about a superspreader destination: How mismanagement of Covid-19 triggers debates about sustainability and geopolitics," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Ruhrort, Lisa, 2022. "Can a rapid mobility transition appear both desirable and achievable? Reflections on the role of competing narratives for socio-technical change and suggestions for a research agenda," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-1.
    5. Julia Loder & Adrian Rinscheid & Rolf Wüstenhagen, 2024. "Why do (some) German car manufacturers go electric? The role of dynamic capabilities and cognitive frames," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1129-1143, February.

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