Hi folks,
I would like to give the following paper at the 2011 ISA meetings.
Anyone out there doing a panel on China, consumption, or automobility
with room for another paper? My apologies for the very late notice,
but a family issue really threw my schedule for a loop the last few
weeks. For the same reason, I haven't been able to put a panel of my
own together on this topic. In any case, if you're interested in this
paper and have room for it, let me know!
Thanks,
Steve
Here's the description:
The End of the Kingdom of Bicycles: Causes, Consequences, and
Implications of China?s Car Craze
China is rapidly becoming an automobile society, as more and more
Chinese slide behind the wheel. There now are more than 15,000,000
privately owned cars in China and, unless there is a dramatic change
of course, China will in the next 50 years pass the United States to
become the number one car owning country in the world. This paper will
consider the causes, consequences, and likely future of China?s
motorization revolution. With traffic congestion, auto accidents, and
air pollution already among the world?s worst, the human and
environmental consequences are not likely to be pretty.
The automotive revolution is also radically changing Chinese life
choices and landscapes, as car ownership increases already large
disparities between rich and poor, as densely packed and integrated
cities give way to sprawling suburbs, and as farmland is increasingly
paved over to make way for parking lots, shopping malls, and
expressways. And, while state officials and activists have suggested
a number of innovative solutions to China?s runaway motorization,
including mass transit in and between cities, increased fees for those
using cars, gas, parking and roads, and even a return to a
bicycle-based society, such solutions are likely to prove politically
impossible or simply irrelevant. Exploding popular demand for cars,
roads, and the liberating lifestyle they provide are only accelerating
China?s car craze, with little sign that it will slow anytime soon.
Steve Van Holde
Department of Political Science
Kenyon College
Gambier OH 43022 USA
740-427-2699 office
740-358-9250 cell
