IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/bushst/v52y2010i7p1107-1122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Symbolic consumption, signification and the 'lockout' of electric cars, 1885-1914

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Ivory
  • Audley Genus

Abstract

The paper analyses the sources of meanings attached to consumption of the early automobile to inform analysis of the lockout of electric automobiles in the UK, mindful of related developments in France, and the USA. Data are gathered from archive sources, and include social and technical histories and popular newspapers and magazines from the period investigated (1885-1914). The paper asserts that the association of the early car with specific and particular cultural meanings, as defined by class and gender, led to it becoming an untenable choice for early consumers contributing to the 'lockout' of the electric car before it had a chance to establish itself as a viable socio-technical system. The conclusion highlights the limitations of an analytical focus privileging technical accounts of lockout and identifies the contribution of the concepts of symbolic consumption and signification.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Ivory & Audley Genus, 2010. "Symbolic consumption, signification and the 'lockout' of electric cars, 1885-1914," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(7), pages 1107-1122.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:52:y:2010:i:7:p:1107-1122
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2010.523463
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00076791.2010.523463
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00076791.2010.523463?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul David, 1997. "Path Dependence and the Quest for Historical Economics: One More chorus of Ballad of QWERTY," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _020, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    2. James Foreman Peck, 1996. "Technological Lock-in and the Power Source for the Motor Car," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _007, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Paul A. David, 1997. "Path Dependence and the Quest for Historical Economics: One More chorus of Ballad of QWERTY," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _020, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    4. James Foreman-Peck,, 1996. "'Technological Lock-in' and the Power Source for the Motor Car," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _007, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul A. David & Gavin Wright, "undated". "General Purpose Technologies and Surges in Productivity: Historical Reflections on the Future of the ICT Revolution," Working Papers 99026, Stanford University, Department of Economics.
    2. repec:oxf:wpaper:69.2 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. J.Humphries & T. Leunig, 2007. "Cities, Market Integration and Going to Sea: Stunting and the standard of living in early nineteenth-century England and Wales," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _066, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    4. Liam Brunt, 1999. "An Arbitrage Model in Crop Rotation in 18th Century England," Economics Series Working Papers 1999-W32, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    5. Studer, Roman, 2008. "India and the Great Divergence: Assessing the Efficiency of Grain Markets in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century India," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 393-437, June.
    6. Jacob Weisdorf & Paul Sharp, 2009. "From preventive to permissive checks: the changing nature of the Malthusian relationship between nuptiality and the price of provisions in the nineteenth century," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 3(1), pages 55-70, January.
    7. Chalkley, Martin & Malcomson, James M., 2002. "Cost sharing in health service provision: an empirical assessment of cost savings," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 219-249, May.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2241 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Jane Humphries & Tim Leunig, 2007. "Cities, Market Integration and Going to Sea: Stunting and the Standard of Living in Early Nineteenth-Century England and Wales," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _066, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    10. Daudin, Guillaume, 2010. "Domestic Trade and Market Size in Late-Eighteenth-Century France," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(3), pages 716-743, September.
    11. Paul A. David & Gavin Wright, "undated". "General Purpose Technologies and Surges in Productivity: Historical Reflections on the Future of the ICT Revolution," Working Papers 99026, Stanford University, Department of Economics.
    12. Liam Brunt, 1999. "An Arbitrage Model in Crop Rotation in 18th Century England," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _032, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Liam Brunt, 2000. "Where theres Muck theres Brass The Market for Manure in the Industrial Revolution," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _035, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    14. Pier Paolo Patrucco, 2005. "The emergence of technology systems: knowledge production and distribution in the case of the Emilian plastics district," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 29(1), pages 37-56, January.
    15. Stavins, Robert & Jaffe, Adam & Newell, Richard, 2000. "Technological Change and the Environment," Working Paper Series rwp00-002, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    16. Yalcintas, Altug, 2012. "İktisat doga bilimlerinin Mekke’si mi oluyor?: Toplumsal ve doga bilimleri iliskisi uzerine bir atıf analizi [Is economics becoming the Mecca of Biology?: A citation analysis of the relationship be," MPRA Paper 43493, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Maruf Sanni & A.A. Egbetokun & W.O. Siyanbola, 2010. "A model for the design and development of a Science and Technology Park in developing countries," International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1), pages 62-81.
    18. Foxon, Timothy J. & Pearson, Peter J.G. & Arapostathis, Stathis & Carlsson-Hyslop, Anna & Thornton, Judith, 2013. "Branching points for transition pathways: assessing responses of actors to challenges on pathways to a low carbon future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 146-158.
    19. Bukvić, Rajko, 2016. "Qwerty, Йцукен И Српска Ћирилица: Треба Ли Нам Нови Стандард? [QWERTY, ЙЦУКЕН and Serbian keyboard: do we need new standard?]," MPRA Paper 71031, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    20. Federico Varese & Meir Yaish, 1998. "Altruism:The Importance of Being Asked. The Rescue of Jews in Nazi Europe," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _024, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    21. Francisco J. Santos-Arteaga & Debora Di Caprio & Madjid Tavana & Aidan O'Connor, 2017. "Formalising The Demand For Technological Innovations: Rational Herds, Market Frictions And Network Effects," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(02), pages 1-43, February.
    22. Cornelia Storz & Werner Pascha, 2011. "Japan’s Silver Market: Creating a New Industry under Uncertainty," Chapters, in: Werner Pascha & Cornelia Storz & Markus Taube (ed.), Institutional Variety in East Asia, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:52:y:2010:i:7:p:1107-1122. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FBSH20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.