Hauntologies by Elia Ayoub
The Fire These Times
74/ The Political Economy of Car Dependence: Understanding Systems of Provision (with Giulio Mattioli & Julia Steinberger)
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74/ The Political Economy of Car Dependence: Understanding Systems of Provision (with Giulio Mattioli & Julia Steinberger)

This is a conversation with Giulio Mattioli and Julia Steinberger about their article ‘the political economy of car dependence: A systems of provision approach‘ published in the ‘Energy Research & Social Science‘ journal. We also discussed the topics below.

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Topics Discussed:

  • The five key elements of what we’re calling the ‘car-dependent  transport system’: i) the automotive industry; ii) the provision of car  infrastructure; iii) the political economy of urban sprawl; iv) the  provision of public transport; v) cultures of car consumption

  • The problem with focusing too much on consumption and the importance of covering the production side

  • How where we live can influence our politics, and how suburban car-oriented lifestyles are actually subsidized by the state

  • The importance of network planning

  • Looking for decoupling and finding degrowth instead

  • The problem with ‘sustainable’ growth

  • How the car industry shows the necessity of degrowth

  • Why more equitable societies are easier to decarbonize

  • The problem with the argument that personal choices do not matter

  • Dealing with climate anxiety through activism, work, research, learning

  • How come we knew so much and did so little?

  • Working with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

  • What is ecologial economics?

Recommended Books

Music by Tarabeat.

Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

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