Traffic Power Structure

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. This is the main thesis of the manifesto The Traffic Power

Structure, penned by the Sweden-based activist network Planka.nu.Planka.nu

was founded in 2001 to fight for free public transport. Thanks to creative

direct action, witty public interventions, and thought-provoking

statements, the network has become a leading voice in Scandinavian debates

on traffic. In its manifesto, Planka.nu presents a critique of the

automobile society, analyzes the connections between traffic, the

environment, and class, and outlines its political vision. The topics

explored along the way include Bruce Springsteen, science fiction

magazines, high-speed trains, nuclear power, the security-industrial

complex, happiness research, and volcano eruptions. Planka.nu rejects

demands to travel ever-longer distances in order to satisfy our most basic

needs while we lose all sense for proximity and community. The Traffic

Power Structure argues for a different kind of traffic in a different kind

of world.The book has received several awards in Sweden and has been hailed

by Swedish media as a “manifesto of striking analytical depth, based on

profound knowledge, and a will to agitation that demands our respect” (Ny

Tid).