(Re)civilizing the young driver: technization and emotive automobility

Historically, youths have presented challenges to the authorities via their appropriation of the automobile and related inversion of mainstream motoring values. Recently, this has been demonstrated in the contestation concerning boy racers in the UK and their engagement in deviant driving and car modification. Drawing on Elias’ civilizing process and work on technization, this paper demonstrates how various measures targeted the emotive heart of this car-based community, thus attempting to (re)civilize young drivers. Data is presented from ethnographic research with boy racers and societal groups in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland.