A Dearth of Research: Does anyone really know anything about hit: there is plenty to scientifically research

» miragelointoin - there is plenty to scientifically research

Hi everyone. I am a little experienced hitchhiker and student of cultural sciences (Kulturwissenschaften) about to write an essay giving a mainly sociological outlook on the topic and I think there is a lot one could interpret in the whole hitching business. First of all I am not surprised that hitchhiking is underresearched for how many hitchhikers are actually represented in the academic establishment which is leading whatever discourse there is (obviously little) on the topic.?
First inspiration I got from a very philosophical angle is Kundera's "Hitchhiking game" in his book "Laughable Loves" which made me think more about what hitchhiking can be all about
(allthough as a woman I think that the myth of the
woman that becomes a femme fatale when hitching is very antifeminist).
But I am drifting a bit away from my sociological perspective on the topic. Little research data, so it's hard to sound believable. I find the notion of the "death of hitchhiking" quite interesting as wrong as it may be but someone said it so there must be a point in it. Where did hitchhiking originate from anyway? I don't really know, but I imagine
maybe the hippie culture? Anyway, I'd definitely regard is as a subculture with all the typical characteristics and set of rules (hitchiquette).
Again, coming back to the earlier mentioned "death of hitchhiking" I like (well I like postmodernism anyway) to have a rather postmodernist outlook on the topic. I mean, what has become of cars? They used to be symbols of transportation; now they are all about colour, equipment, so on and the real purpose of them- transporting as many passengers as seats are available- is neglected more and more. Not much room for hitchhikers.
Marx would have also definitely have hitchhiked in his days, I suppose.
All this hysteria about hitchhiking and its not getting mentioned in the media can be definitely seen as a reflection of the ruling social groups and their attempts to preserve the status quo (capitalism-liberalism-individualism).
O.K., I have thrown in a lot of ideas here, but I am really excited about my essay and I am glad to have found this source which is the best I have seen so far.
Would be interesting to get some feedback from some of you guys.
Last but not least I'd like to say, that of course
as a scientist (especially as a sociologist, cultural historician or philosopher) you can interpret pretty much anything in hitchhiking if only you want to- start by evaluating films (like "Easy Rider","Butterfly Kiss", "Vagabond") and the cultural image about hitchhiking they give and so on....
Should be fun, however. Good ride to everyone!

-- posted by miragelointoin