The automobile has long been directly and indirectly connected to human conceptions of nature, yet few studies linger with the act of driving as a practice that contributes to how nature is experienced. I argue that a more nuanced understanding of automobility is necessary for any scholars who study both social practices and environmental sustainability. Following the work of the human geographer Doreen Massey, I explore how relations between humans and non-humans, the social and the natural, ideology and practice work together to produce places specific to space and time. I also argue that American automobility is not simply transportation, but is in fact an ideology. As such, specific practices of automobility shift in relation to the ideology, framing how subjects respond to power or to other articulations of subjectivity, and ultimately, produce places.
As an example of the work being done by humans, machines, and nature, I focus on the practice of four-wheeling done in Northern California along the Rubicon Trail, a historical, long unimproved road that is claimed to be the toughest in North America. Operating within the ideology of American automobility, four-wheelers have historically used the Rubicon Trail to make and reproduce a natural place that is connected to the use of machines. When such practices were threatened by environmental degradation, four-wheelers worked within environmentalist discourse, while maintaining a distinct subjectivity framed counter to that of an environmentalist, to ensure the continuation of use of the Rubicon Trail.
","abstract_html":"<p>The automobile has long been directly and indirectly connected to human conceptions of nature, yet few studies linger with the act of driving as a practice that contributes to how nature is experienced. I argue that a more nuanced understanding of automobility is necessary for any scholars who study both social practices and environmental sustainability. Following the work of the human geographer Doreen Massey, I explore how relations between humans and non-humans, the social and the natural, ideology and practice work together to produce places specific to space and time. I also argue that American automobility is not simply transportation, but is in fact an ideology. As such, specific practices of automobility shift in relation to the ideology, framing how subjects respond to power or to other articulations of subjectivity, and ultimately, produce places.</p> <p>As an example of the work being done by humans, machines, and nature, I focus on the practice of four-wheeling done in Northern California along the Rubicon Trail, a historical, long unimproved road that is claimed to be the toughest in North America. Operating within the ideology of American automobility, four-wheelers have historically used the Rubicon Trail to make and reproduce a natural place that is connected to the use of machines. When such practices were threatened by environmental degradation, four-wheelers worked within environmentalist discourse, while maintaining a distinct subjectivity framed counter to that of an environmentalist, to ensure the continuation of use of the Rubicon Trail.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pesses, Michael"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Cultural Studies, PhD","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"School of Arts and Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["JoAnna Poblete","David K. Seitz"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:50Z","subjects":["Automobility","Anthropocene","Environmentalism","Jeeps","Space and Place","American Studies","Environmental Studies","Human Geography","Nature and Society Relations","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/152","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["JoAnna Poblete","David K. Seitz"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pesses, Michael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-06-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Arts and Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Cultural Studies, PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Automobility","Anthropocene","Environmentalism","Jeeps","Space and Place","American Studies","Environmental Studies","Human Geography","Nature and Society Relations","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/152"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The automobile has long been directly and indirectly connected to human conceptions of nature, yet few studies linger with the act of driving as a practice that contributes to how nature is experienced. I argue that a more nuanced understanding of automobility is necessary for any scholars who study both social practices and environmental sustainability. Following the work of the human geographer Doreen Massey, I explore how relations between humans and non-humans, the social and the natural, ideology and practice work together to produce places specific to space and time. I also argue that American automobility is not simply transportation, but is in fact an ideology. As such, specific practices of automobility shift in relation to the ideology, framing how subjects respond to power or to other articulations of subjectivity, and ultimately, produce places.
As an example of the work being done by humans, machines, and nature, I focus on the practice of four-wheeling done in Northern California along the Rubicon Trail, a historical, long unimproved road that is claimed to be the toughest in North America. Operating within the ideology of American automobility, four-wheelers have historically used the Rubicon Trail to make and reproduce a natural place that is connected to the use of machines. When such practices were threatened by environmental degradation, four-wheelers worked within environmentalist discourse, while maintaining a distinct subjectivity framed counter to that of an environmentalist, to ensure the continuation of use of the Rubicon Trail.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Crawl Space: Driving Over the Anthropocene in a Jeep"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["JoAnna Poblete","David K. Seitz"],"dc:creator":["Pesses, Michael"],"dc:date.available":["2020-06-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The automobile has long been directly and indirectly connected to human conceptions of nature, yet few studies linger with the act of driving as a practice that contributes to how nature is experienced. I argue that a more nuanced understanding of automobility is necessary for any scholars who study both social practices and environmental sustainability. Following the work of the human geographer Doreen Massey, I explore how relations between humans and non-humans, the social and the natural, ideology and practice work together to produce places specific to space and time. I also argue that American automobility is not simply transportation, but is in fact an ideology. As such, specific practices of automobility shift in relation to the ideology, framing how subjects respond to power or to other articulations of subjectivity, and ultimately, produce places.
As an example of the work being done by humans, machines, and nature, I focus on the practice of four-wheeling done in Northern California along the Rubicon Trail, a historical, long unimproved road that is claimed to be the toughest in North America. Operating within the ideology of American automobility, four-wheelers have historically used the Rubicon Trail to make and reproduce a natural place that is connected to the use of machines. When such practices were threatened by environmental degradation, four-wheelers worked within environmentalist discourse, while maintaining a distinct subjectivity framed counter to that of an environmentalist, to ensure the continuation of use of the Rubicon Trail.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/152"],"dc:subject":["Automobility","Anthropocene","Environmentalism","Jeeps","Space and Place","American Studies","Environmental Studies","Human Geography","Nature and Society Relations","United States History"],"dc:title":["Crawl Space: Driving Over the Anthropocene in a Jeep"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Arts and Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Cultural Studies, PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:50Z"}