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American Long-Distance Locomobility and the Spaces of Actor-Network Theory

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  • Michael Minn

    (Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 605 East Springfield Avenue, Champaign, IL 61820, USA)

Abstract

Much of the discourse surrounding national intercity passenger rail service in the United States revolves around why it has lagged so far behind European and Asian counterparts. However, a more interesting question might be why it has survived despite competition from faster, more nimble transport modes, discriminatory public policy, and the ascension of neoliberal discourse hostile to public endeavor. This paper uses the concept of durability in actor-network theory to offer some insights into how the system has achieved a remarkable but problematic stability, and how that durability relates to an imagined role for national intercity passenger rail in a future of increasingly constrained material resources. This paper also demonstrates the application of actor-network theory (ANT) in a way that can serve as a useful introduction to and template for the use of that methodology.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Minn, 2016. "American Long-Distance Locomobility and the Spaces of Actor-Network Theory," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:5:y:2016:i:1:p:14-:d:66257
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Geels, Frank W., 2010. "Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 495-510, May.
    2. Geels, Frank W., 2002. "Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1257-1274, December.
    3. Michael Minn, 2013. "The Political Economy of High Speed Rail in the United States," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 185-200, May.
    4. Joseph Vranich, 2004. "End of the Line: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and the Future of America’s Passenger Trains," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 51644, September.
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