Race, Taste, Class and Cars
Race, Taste, Class and Cars Love them or hate them, most of us have an opinion about cars. And then there's modification: alloy wheels, custom audio systems and bespoke paint jobs. If not the cars…
Specifikacia Race, Taste, Class and Cars
Race, Taste, Class and Cars
Love them or hate them, most of us have an opinion about cars. And then there's modification: alloy wheels, custom audio systems and bespoke paint jobs. If not the cars themselves, then it's driver competence and behaviour that can offend us.
In subtle and complex ways, cars transmit and modify our identities behind the wheel. 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. 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,