The Traffic Power Structure

(Paperback)

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Description

The modern traffic system is ecologically unsustainable, emotionally stressful and poses a physical threat to individuals and communities alike. Traffic is not only an ecological and social problem but also a political one. Modern traffic reproduces the rule of the state and capital and is closely linked to class society. It is a problem of power. At its core lies the notion of 'automobility', a contradictory ideal of free movement closely linked to a tight web of regulations and control mechanisms.

Reviews

"The group's efficiency in evasion has created an enviable business model."
--Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times

"We could build a Berlin Wall around the metro stations, and they would still try to find ways to get around it."
--Jesper Pettersson, spokesperson for Stockholm's Public Transport Services

"Not a sentence without a message, not a word in the wrong place."
--Lars Wilderng, Cornucopia

"Well written, well informed, and well conceived."
--Swedish Arts Council

Author Bio

Planka.nu is a network of local organizations fighting for free public transport. It was founded in 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden, by activists from Sweden's Syndicalist Youth Association. Apart from engaging in public debate, direct action, and guerrilla media, the network administers the "P-kassa," a solidarity fund covering fines for people commonly known as fare-dodgers, although they are more aptly described as passengers in public transport engaged in an anti-fare strike.