Localism, a Bike Path to Nowhere
For cyclists to have an impact, even on something as plain and obvious as not getting hit by cars, we have to become more than hobbyists, more than localists, more than advocates.
by: Carl Eugene Stroud
Cycling advocacy is about safety, so it makes sense that cycling advocates are mostly concerned with the roads where they live. However, following this logic politically has reduced cycling to an entirely local issue.
The idea is that you fix your own local problems first then spread those fixes to other places. In theory, all the “bike friendly” towns will keep teaming up until there’s enough bike infrastructure to go around. The problem with this strategy is that if the vision is only ever defined from a local perspective, it won’t be useful when it rolls into a new town or a different part of the world.
Of course, since things do have to start somewhere, arguing about localism can seem like the chicken or the egg, but it doesn’t matter where the movement begins if the politics only make sense locally and big corporations are presenting the only international alternative.
The cycling industry, like the auto and oil industries, isn’t organized around local relationships. It’s shaped from the top down by money and political power. This means the objectives of international capital have way more influence on infrastructure and culture than a coalition of townies trying to get more of their neighbors on bikes. That’s why safety is sold to us as products to buy or road barriers to build.
Since the politics behind car culture are already pervasive, any effort at change will have to reach beyond the city limits at some point. This means that without an expanding political perspective, localism is a trap. It’s based on the assumption that the most influence an individual can have is at the local level, despite the fact that mass movements clearly build more social force than individuals. Political strategies are most effective when they maximize the impact of movements, not of individuals.
Cyclists shouldn’t wait until some city council or chamber of commerce decides to jump on the bandwagon and spread the word. The cycling movement should aim to already be an undeniable force anywhere and everywhere the politicians and businessmen try to go.
We should determine our own needs and articulate our own demands, including a variety of proposals coming from different local communities. The goal should be to articulate cycling politics that can be recognized and understood at the national and international levels. This is the only way to really influence policy and significantly change society.
Historically, the cycling movement has had legitimate national sway. Back before most people had cars, it wasn’t enough to only improve the roads around town if you wanted to go places by bike, and it wasn’t enough to participate in the movement as an individual. That’s why they formed large cycling associations where they could debate their collective politics.
Doing this effectively today will require a movement that’s independent from the capitalist and bureaucratic classes, a movement capable of bringing smaller groups together into a mass organization with a coherent and consistent set of values. This means recognizing our needs and forcing our demands, building popular power as cyclists, rather than relying on opportunistic politicians or big construction firms aiming to get rich making cycling infrastructure on our behalf.
Even setting aside the debate about localism, the struggles inside the cycling movement are hard to ignore, especially since the elephant in the room is cycling’s pro-consumerism. Nevertheless, other tendencies do exist, and they don’t all just fit under the reactionary banner of anti-consumerism. Think of cyclists with or without cars, parents and kids, retired people, teens, working people, the unemployed, the homeless. If these cyclists can organize themselves and present a clear direction that speaks to others, they could start to influence society on their own terms, exercising their potential to force change.
It doesn’t take an economist to recognize that supply chains aren’t local, and it doesn’t take an environmentalist to recognize that bikes use less gas than cars. So, as the world enters a potential economic crisis driven by the price of oil, it’s more important than ever for the cycling movement to become a singular force, reaching into every sector of society, across the country and around the world.
To have an impact, even on something as plain and obvious as not getting hit by cars, we have to become more than hobbyists, more than localists, more than advocates. We have to encourage organizing and coalition building in the cycling movement, and we have to concern ourselves with roads that go out of town too.