Abstract
This paper deals with the history of the international Human-Powered Vehicle (HPV) movement, originally launched in the 1970s by engineers and scientists who believed that bicycle innovation could give a major impetus to a coveted western bicycle renaissance. Based on a reading of magazines and books from the American and Dutch HPV scenes, it compares ideas and practices within the Dutch Human-Powered Vehicle association NVHPV (established 1984) with those of the American-based IHPVA (established 1976), asking why the American ideas about innovative Human-Powered Vehicles did not evoke a stronger response in a bicycle-friendly country such as the Netherlands. The paper shows that while new ideas to promote cycling may travel easily, national trajectories and cultures of cycling prove remarkably resilient to change.
KEYWORDS:
bicycle renaissance; environmentalism; glocalization; Human-Powered Vehicle movement; IHPVA; innovation; Netherlands
KEYWORDS:
bicycle renaissance; environmentalism; glocalization; Human-Powered Vehicle movement; IHPVA; innovation; Netherlands
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Cycling and Recycling. Histories of Sustainable Practices |
Editors | R Oldenziel, H Trischler |
Place of Publication | New York, Oxford |
Publisher | Berghahn |
Pages | 33-57 |
Number of pages | 25 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-78238-970-5 |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Publication series
Series | Environment in History: International Perspectives |
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Number | 7 |