Snarl : In Defense of Stalled Traffic and Faulty Networks

Ruth A. Miller Excavates A Centuries-old History Of Nonhuman And Nonbiological Constitutional Engagement And Outlines A Robust Mechanical Democracy That Challenges Existing Theories Of Liberal And Human Political Participation. Drawing On An Eclectic Set Of Legal, Political, And Automotive Texts From France, Turkey, And The United States, She Proposes A Radical Mechanical Rearticulation Of Three Of The Most Basic Principles Of Democracy: Vitality, Mobility, And Liberty. Rather Than Defending A Grand Theory Of Materialist Or Posthumanist Politics, Or Addressing Abstract Concepts Or ?things? Writ Large, Miller Invites Readers Into A Self-contained History Of Constitutionalism Situated In A Focused Discussion Of Automobile Traffic Congestion In Paris, Istanbul, And Boston. Within The Mechanical Public Sphere Created By Automotive Space, Snarl Finds A Model Of Democratic Politics That Transforms Our Most Fundamental Assumptions About The Nature, And Constitutional Potential, Of Life, Movement, And Freedom.--amazon.com. 1 Introduction: Mechanical Constitutionalism 1 -- Constitutional History 6 -- Constitutional Materiality 8 -- Vitality, Mobility, And Liberty 10 -- Conclusion 12 -- 2 Traffic: A Literature Review 15 -- Traffic And The Public Sphere 16 -- Traffic And Borders 21 -- Traffic And Military Violence 25 -- Traffic And Rights 30 -- Traffic And Civilization 34 -- Conclusion 40 -- 3 Networks: A Literature Review 42 -- Networks And The Public Sphere 45 -- Networks And Military Violence 50 -- Networks And Speech: Machine Code Versus Programming Language 55 -- Conclusion 59 -- 4 Vitality 62 -- Excavating The Automotive Public Sphere 65 -- Parking 67 -- Automotive Vitality: Storage And Circulation 74 -- Conclusion 80 -- 5 Mobility 83 -- Archiving The Automotive Public Sphere 87 -- Bridge And Tunnel 88 -- Automotive Mobility: Billboards And Monuments 93 -- Conclusion 99 -- 6 Liberty 102 -- Delimiting The Automotive Public Sphere 104 -- No Crossing 107 -- Automotive Liberty: Intersections And Pollution 112 -- Conclusion 121 -- 7 Drones: A Case Study 123 -- Vitality 126 -- Mobility 135 -- Liberty 140 -- Conclusion: Theories Of Freedom 147 -- 8 Conclusion: Stalled Traffic And Faulty Networks 153 -- Why Should Humans Care? 156. Ruth A. Miller. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 197-206) And Index. It is possible to imagine a theory of democracy and a constitutional history independent of human subjectivity | Ruth A. Miller excavates a centuries-old history of nonhuman and nonbiological constitutional engagement and outlines a robust mechanical democracy that challenges existing theories of liberal and human political participation. Drawing on an eclectic set of legal, political, and automotive texts from France, Turkey, and the United States, she proposes a radical mechanical re-articulation of three of the most basic principles of democracy: vitality, mobility, and liberty. Rather than defending a grand theory of materialist or posthumanist politics, or addressing abstract concepts or "things" writ large, Miller invites readers into a self-contained history of constitutionalism situated in a focused discussion of automobile traffic congestion in Paris, Istanbul, and Boston. Within the mechanical public sphere created by automotive space, Snarl finds a model of democratic politics that transforms our most fundamental assumptions about the nature, and constitutional potential, of life, movement, and freedom.