Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City

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Contents:

  • Access Check
  • Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City – By Jeffrey L. Kidder
  • Access Check
  • Urban Flow
  • Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City – By Jeffrey L. Kidder

    • Access Check

    Men's Work and Dirty Work 4. Kidder has been studying, and writing about, bicycle messengers for over a decade, starting with his bachelor's thesis in Dimensions 6 x 9 x 0. Playing in Traffi 5. The Deep Play of Alleycats 6. Tasked with delivering time-sensitive materials within, at most, a few hours—and sometimes in as little as fifteen minutes—these couriers ride in all types of weather, weave in and out of dense traffic, dodging or sometimes failing to dodge taxis and pedestrians alike in order to meet their clients' tight deadlines. Taken together, the occupation and the messengers' after-hours pursuits highlight a creative subculture inextricably linked to the urban environment.

    For these couriers, messengering is the foundation for an all-encompassing lifestyle, an essential part of their identity. In Urban Flow , Jeffrey L. Kidder a sociologist who spent several years working as a bike messenger introduces readers to this fascinating subculture, exploring its appeal as well as its uncertainties and dangers. Through interviews with and observation of messengers at work and play, Kidder shows how many become acclimated to the fast-paced, death-defying nature of the job, often continuing to ride with the same sense of purpose off the clock.

    Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City – By Jeffrey L. Kidder

    Urban Flow. In Urban Flow, Jeffrey L. Kidder introduces readers to the fascinating subculture of bike messengers, exploring its appeal as well as its uncertainties. Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City [Jeffrey L. Kidder] on bahana-line.com * FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Bike messengers are familiar figures in the.

    In chaotic bike races called alleycats, messengers careen through the city in hopes of beating their peers to the finish line. Some messengers travel the world to take part in these events, and the top prizes are often little more than bragging rights. Taken together, the occupation and the messengers' after-hours pursuits highlight a creative subculture inextricably linked to the urban environment.

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    The work of bike messengers is intense and physically difficult. It requires split-second reflexes, an intimate knowledge of street maps and traffic patterns, and a significant measure of courage in the face of both bodily harm and job insecurity. The Lure of Delivery 1. Men's Work and Dirty Work 4.

    Urban Flow

    Playing in Traffi 5. The Deep Play of Alleycats 6. The Aff ective Appropriation of Space 7. The Meaning of Messenger Style Conclusion: The Politics of Appropriation.

    Bikers Dash Across Mexico City in Illegal Alleycat Races

    Through what Kidder calls the 'affective appropriation of space' messengers resist the conformist, rationalized world of the city, affording moments, however small, of creativity and liberation. Kidder's first-person account explains the allure of delivering packages, the importance of alleycat races, and the use of fixed- gear bikes.

    Chaotically weaving through traffic, she is seen as either an anarchic urban cowboy or a severe public nuisance. In an age of instant communication and digital technology, this seemingly anachronistic profession thrives as a result of the demands for timely delivery of documents and page proofs in legal and creative professions.

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    However, as Jeffrey L. Kidder explains in Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City, being a bike messenger involves more than a workplace identity.

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    Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City – By Jeffrey L. Kidder

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