The Americas Colloquium
On Thursday, 29 June 2023, we hear Dr. Raúl Acosta's habilitation lecture: "Cycling Through a Changing Mexico City"
29.06.2023 at 18:15
Dr. Raúl Acosta (LMU München/Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main):
Cycling Through a Changing Mexico City:
A Case of Ethics, Activism and Environmental Concerns in Urban Mobility
The promotion of cycling in Mexico City has followed a difficult path in the last two decades. And yet, the city has changed. Hundreds of kilometers of cycleways have been built, safe parking areas in transportation hubs have been erected, and a new law and its regulations now seek to normalize cycling in Mexico City. Through an ethnographic study of the mobility arena, where activists played a prominent role, I examine how the imagination of what is possible in the city changed so much in a relatively short time. I consider it a case of urban ethics where environmental concerns and bodily experiences shaped novel practices and aspirations. An ethics of dwelling, where those inhabiting an area actively shape it, has seen the multiplication of cycling collectives, some activist others recreational. The emerging streetscapes full of bicycles have in turn opened up new opportunities for urban dwellers to share spaces without the usual class- or race-informed-barriers.
When? Thursday, 29 June 2023, 18:15
Where? Oettingenstraße 67, 80798 München
Room L 155
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