Systemic motonormativity

While motonormativity has been talked about in the transport circles for a long time, a detailed account that would make the concept suitable for deeper analysis was mostly lacking. To change that, Walker, Davis, Tapp (2023) define the concept as a "cultural inability to think objectively and dispassionately due to largely unconscious assumptions about how travel is", and then attempt to establish its presence experimentally. In this paper, we argue that while the concept of motonormativity is very important, Walker’s et al. and similar approaches to motonormativity contain serious problems that need to be rectified. The first part of the paper spells out in detail where gaps exist in the current understanding of motonormativity. First, the "bias" understanding of motonormativity assumes an implausible form of moral objectivism, stipulating an "unbiased" baseline of judgement as a vantage point. Second, the definitions put forward are distinctly individualistic (as opposed to systemic), missing the opportunity to address the aspects of motonormativity that are not reducible to individual beliefs. The second part of the paper then presents a more comprehensive take on motonormativity as a hierarchy entrenched in the transport system and positions it as a system-level phenomenon that can be understood outside of the constrains of individual beliefs and actions.