ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the more paternalistic regime represented by the Norwegian state. It considers as a series of studies of entailments, which complement and extend previous approaches to the study of cars. As a result of the paucity of a scholarly literature on car consumption, the critical accounts that dominate the treatment of cars are replete with sweeping generalizations as to the implications of the car for a more general ‘modernity’. It seems that the absence of empathetic observation leaves room for all sorts of conclusions to be drawn that might with better knowledge and more sustained examination appear problematic. The study of Trinidadian car upholstery illustrates how the study of entailments develops into the study of car culture.
