Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2009, Page 76

74
DREAMS OF CARS ON ANISLAND
without weaknesses. The problem is that
human beings will always run into hazardous
scenarios because of the impact of senti-
ments, irrational meditation and dreamlike
imagination on our interaction and beha-
viour.
On a cultural level it is interesting to
present the generational divide regarding the
meaning and value of risk behaviour. Young
people have through centuries been blamed
for immoral risky lifestyles of all kinds (Best,
2006). They are condemned as irresponsible,
egocentric hedonists with little respect of
the rules and order of society. Periods of
moral panics - with fear and anger towards
youth generations accused of anarchistic
attitudes and destructive social behaviour -
are inherent components of modern society.
Cohen says, "A condition, episode, person or
group of persons emerges to become
defined as a threat to societal values and
interests" (in Boethius, 1995: 41). The panic
sometimes develops into hysterical emo-
tional campaigns against non-conformist
minorities in society.
Some young men and women, labelled
lost 'outsiders' by mainstream middle-class
youths, feel discriminated and stigmatized in
their everyday lives (Vaaranen, 2004). This
youth group doesn't get cultural recognition
by the society and sticks to its own subcul-
tural values and styles - e.g. the street-racing
youth and other risk-taking drivers. The
drivers taking severe risks on the roads are
often in a multifarious mission of resistance
towards the power holders of society. The
researcher Boethius (1995:49) says:
"Children and youth oftenfeel (as do wo-
men) dependent, suppressed and bound.
They therefore tend (at least in the middle
class) to challenge and provoke the older
generation - the generation that possesses
social, political, pedagogical and economic
power..."
The meaning of cars in youth car cultures is
usually very far from the formal authorities'
negative images of young drivers - especially
young working-class men (Best, 2006). The
car is much more than a speedy vehicle that
young individuals abuse in self-centred
leisure activities. The so-called TWOC youth
in USA illustrates the complex ever-changing
youth-cars-culture relation.
"In her book Goliath, Campbell (1993)
discusses the TWOCers whose behaviour
caused such media fury for a few years in
the 1980s/1990s. The TWOCing was
'taking cars without the owner's consent'.
Campbell writes of one group of young
men on a particular estate who used such
cars to demonstrate their driving skills to
their admiring peers. From 10 at night they
transformed what was otherwise thought
of as the square near the shopping centre
into an arena of dramatic performance.
Outrageous speeds, handbrake turns,
sudden stops, and dramatic exits. After 10
at night this space belonged to them;
everyone else kept well clear. [...] After 10
this was young men's territory" (Massey,
1998: 128)
The car is part of a territorial struggle where
young people normally are the weak part
that has to accept unattractive border areas
far from the prestigious centres of society.
The strategic segregation process separating