Hermes on Two Wheels
eBook - ePub

Hermes on Two Wheels

The Sociology of Bicycle Messengers

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Hermes on Two Wheels

The Sociology of Bicycle Messengers

About this book

Hermes on Two Wheels shows the dynamic world of the bicycle messenger through a sociological lens, based on a five-year participant observation study. Beginning with the experiences of messengers themselves and moving to describe the structural settings of those experiences, the research shows how messengers work within a political-economic system that devalues semi-skilled labor and strips people of emotional fulfillment. The voluntary risk-taking of messengers becomes a means of achieving such emotional fulfillment as well as making a living, while their stylistic expressions pay dividends in cultural scrip rather than money. Through their work, messengers help to reproduce and maintain the structures of society while also constructing a vibrant, rebellious, politicized subculture that has come to represent the new urban hipster, an image continually under threat of co-optation.

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Yes, you can access Hermes on Two Wheels by Kevin Wehr in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Social Philosophy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Preface
  6. 1. Introduction: Hermes on Two Wheels
  7. 2. Why Does Hermes Fly?
  8. 3. Risk, Edgework, and the Community of Danger
  9. 4. Visibility and Invisibility: Liminality, Anarchy, and Bike-Punk Culture
  10. 5. Bicycle Culture, Messenger Solidarity, and Community Matters
  11. 6. Conclusion: The Last Non Co-opted Punk Rock Subculture
  12. Methodological Appendix
  13. References
  14. Index