Quando as rodas conquistam a cidade: cultura, tensões, conflitos e ações na prática do ciclismo em São Paulo

Abstract

In this research, based on the concept of cultural history, I propose an analysis of the practices and the forms of representation of the bicycle in the city of São Paulo. The bicycle has been present in this city since the late 19th century, but little is known about how the practice of cycling was incorporated by the São Paulo society. This study investigates the uses and the representations of the bicycle, an object of material culture, as a tool of sport, recreation, and transportation in different contexts of the history of the city of São Paulo. Through the analysis of primary sources – such as newspapers, magazines, and periodicals, but also websites, blogs, and Internet archives –, I had access to some information that allowed me to ponder over the culture of bicycle from the perspective of the history of the present