ABSTRACT
Western consumer cultures are attached to private cars and particular cars are seen as saying something about those who drive them. Car cultures intersect with driving cultures within car networks that include how cars are embedded in socialisation. Cars are approached by different people in different ways leading to different styles of driving. Some people stay in their place in the traffic queue while others will find ways to get around and forge ahead. Driving is cultural in the sense that it is something that people engage in a range of ways particular to other cultural factors such as gender, socio-economic background, geographic location and values and ideals. Exploring driving as a social and cultural practice involves seeking to discover the experience of living with cars in all its 'complexity and ambiguity'. One of the concepts that will be important in exploring the kinds of social and cultural relations generated in and through cars is the idea of articulation.
