Race, Taste, Class and Cars - (21st Century Standpoints) by Yunis Alam (Paperback)

About the Book

Cars transmit and modify our identities behind the wheel. As a symbol of independence and freedom, the car projects status, class, taste and, significantly, embeds racialisation. Using fascinating research from drivers, Alam unpicks the ways in which our identity is enhanced and driven.

Book Synopsis

Love them or hate them, most of us have an opinion about cars. If not the cars themselves, then it's driver competence and behaviour that can offend us. And then there's modification: alloy wheels, custom audio systems and bespoke paint jobs. For some, changing the look, feel and sound of a car says something about themselves, but for others, such enhancements signify a lack of taste, or even criminality.

In subtle and complex ways, cars transmit and modify our identities behind the wheel. As a symbol of independence and freedom, the car projects status, class, taste and, significantly, embeds racialisation. Using fascinating research from drivers, including first-person accounts as well as exploring hip-hop music and car-related TV shows, Alam unpicks the ways in which identity is rehearsed, enhanced, interpreted.

Review Quotes

"This outstanding book shows in an exemplary way how social science can help us understand diverse experiences. Alam is an eye opener." Jörg Hüttermann, University of Bielefeld

"A fascinating exploration of how identities are expressed through urban consumption. ... encourages us to reflect anew about our own entangled relationship with material objects and mobilities" John Eade, University of Roehampton