Hermes on Two Wheels - The Sociology of Bicycle Messengers (Paperback)

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.

General

Imprint:	University Press of America
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	November 2009
First published:	October 2009
Authors:	Kevin Wehr
Dimensions:	233 x 155 x 11mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	142
ISBN-13:	978-0-7618-4793-9
Categories:	Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Social & political philosophy Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social groups & communities > Urban communities Books > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Social & political philosophy
LSN:	0-7618-4793-6
Barcode:	9780761847939

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