Mobilizing a Spatial Politics of Street Skating: Thinking About the Geographies of Generosity

Elaine Stratford

Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2016, vol. 106, issue 2, 350-357

Abstract: Estimates suggest that tens of millions of people skateboard for transport and pleasure—it is a mobility practice both instrumental and playful. That play is important for creativity, connection, and positive affect is known. Yet skating is often typified as mere vandalism, despite the fact that, intrinsic worth aside, its hybridity is instructive: It invites consideration of the spatial politics of the street and the possibility of accommodating this and, indeed, other forms of “alternative” movement. Arguably, the prospect of such generous geographies is fundamental to ideas about the right to the city, an entitlement embracing responsibilities to one another. Nevertheless, given the ongoing dominance of automobility and widespread anxieties about skating, the tendency has been to try and contain it in parks and regulate its presence on streets, not least by creating design solutions to render it difficult to engage in. A corollary of these strategies, in combination with skaters' own resolve to claim rights to the city, is that skaters move on to roadways. These armatures have not been designed generously to accommodate forms of mobility apart from motor vehicles—and sometimes pedestrians and cyclists. Consequently, skaters are among the millions who die on the roads annually. In relative terms, the number is minute; nevertheless, each death invokes this question: How can we mobilize a spatial politics of street skating by thinking about the geographies of generosity in ways that might avoid such events? Reflecting on that question is the purpose of this article.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00045608.2015.1100062 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:raagxx:v:106:y:2016:i:2:p:350-357

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/raag21

DOI: 10.1080/00045608.2015.1100062

Access Statistics for this article

Annals of the American Association of Geographers is currently edited by Jennifer Cassidento

More articles in Annals of the American Association of Geographers from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().