Re-gendering the relation between men, masculinity and cars? On autonomous vehicles and emancipatory challenges

• As the Nordic regions move into an era in need of sustainable mobility, there are many pressing concerns to be addressed. One of these is the strong connection between masculinity, power and car cultures. In this paper we take our point of departure in the anthromorphization of cars and trucks, and how this emotional and gendered relation needs to be questioned in order to meet future challenges. The phenomenon of autonomous ‘driverless’ cars can here be thought of as one possible emancipatory opportunity in relation to a wider movement of de-gendering and re-gendering motor vehicles. Based on various materials, including the project Trucks for all-developing norm-critical innovation at Volvo, we argue that autonomous vehicles can challenge the foundations of a gendered economy founded on masculinity, speed, pleasure, and embodiment. The advent of ‘driverless’ cars may point in a direction where the traditional imaginary of the active “male” driver may loose ground, even pointing towards a ‘de-masculinization’ of future transport vehicles. However, rather than thinking in terms of a process of a de-masculinization it seems more appropriate to anticipate a development of re-gendering and re-segregation where certain forms of masculine gendered economies of pleasure will lose ground and others will become more foregrounded.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

Keyword

de-gendering

masculinity

autonomous vehicles

trucks

anthromorphization

Gender Studies

Genusvetenskap

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)