Torslandacontainern: En etnologisk studie av soliditet på fyra hjul

Sammanfattning: Torslandacontainern: An ethnological study of solidity on four wheels. In a modern social landscape where high technology progression changes human-material relationships, the way we value durability, lifespan and capacity of the objects we consume alters. When ordinary daily life centers towards digital spheres our contact with objects formerly valued as rigid and solid becomes increasingly alienated. Through interviews and participating observations with Volvo owners this study discusses how an object that historically has symbolized rigidity and solidity functions in a social landscape where modernity creates new discourses surrounding material valuation. The study discusses how these types of solid objects becomes instruments for maintaining contact with national identity and traditional perceptions of security and safety. Further it discusses how these maintaining practices coincides with individual and collective identity shaping processes connected to car ownership and driving.