Cultivating the “car state”: a culturally sensitive analysis of car-centric discourses and mobility cultures in Southern Germany

Abstract

Concepts of “mobility cultures” are gaining traction in mobility research and policy across Europe. This article initially examines and synthesizes existing empirical and conceptual work on mobility cultures. Resulting insights are subsequently used to structure a culturally sensitive inquiry into the transformation of the automobile industry in Southern Germany. For this, a discourse-analytical approach is applied to diverse sources of qualitative data collected specifically for this study. Results reveal different understandings among participants of two regional initiatives intended to facilitate a debate about the future of the automobile industry in the area. These initiatives feature culturally diverse understandings of both the current “car state” and opportunities and threats emanating from a potential shift toward a more environmentally friendly “mobility state.” It is shown that discursive representations of the two states in Southern Germany as major car-manufacturing sites dominate, at the expense of alternative views that advocate for the formation of mobility-related regional identities “beyond the car.” This insistence on maintaining regional identities rooted in car manufacturing simultaneously stokes fears of potential social upheaval in the region if any restrictions to (auto)mobility were to pass, thereby delaying an urgently needed (industrial) political departure from unsustainable car-centric mobility cultures.

Keywords

• mobility
• culture
• sustainability
• discourse analysis
• mobility politics