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Konsumenten als nationale Systembauer. Deutsche und niederländische Radfahrerverbände im Vergleich, 1900–1940

  • This article explores the variability and the limits of the political in regard to cyclists‘ unions in Germany and the Netherlands between 1900 and 1940. In both countries, cyclists formed national consumer organizations, mixing consumer demands with social and even political im-plications. The Dutch Cyclists‘ Union managed to establish herself as an eminent political actor and „system builder“ with lasting impact on traffic legislation and road construction. While liber-als were loosing the political majority in Dutch parliament, the Cyclists‘ Union became a strong-hold of Dutch liberalism outside the narrow confines of the old institutionalized political arena. In contrast, German cyclists‘ dreams of opening up social elites and fostering social and political change through the bicycle were shattered. The bicycle, which had started off as a luxury good in the 1890s and had become a common means of transport by the 1920s, was more suitable for political communications „from top to bottom“. Old liberal elites in the Netherlands were quite successful in making use of this consumer object in order to reformulate their existing claims to power and create new realms of the political. A transformation of social and political conditions, „from the bottom up“, as it was hoped for by part of the German cyclists‘ movement, however, turned out to be utopian.

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Metadaten
Author:Anne-Katrin EbertGND
URL:https://www.zeithistorische-forschungen.de/sites/default/files/medien/material/2017-3/Ebert_2011.pdf
Parent Title (German):Comparativ. Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung
Document Type:Journal Article
Language:German
Year of first Publication:2011
Release Date:2019/05/22
Volume:21
Issue:3
First Page:32
Last Page:48
ZZF Regional-Classification:Europa / Westeuropa / Deutschland
regional übergreifend
Europa / Westeuropa / Benelux-Staaten
ZZF Chronological-Classification:1920er
1930er
1910er
1900er
ZZF Topic-Classification:Umwelt
Infrastruktur
Studies in Contemporary History: Materials:3/2017 Mobilität und Umwelt 3/2017
Licence (German):License LogoMit freundlicher Genehmigung des jeweiligen Autors / Verlags für Online-Ausgabe der Zeitschrift Zeithistorische Forschungen