A collective care agenda from cycling in the urban andes

This paper builds on Latin American Marxist feminist and decolonial feminist thought to rethink the study of urban cycling mobilities through the lens of video mobile ethnography. It examines how territorialities are constructed through daily bicycle commutes and the development of social practices and care strategies. We draw on two case studies, one in Quito and the other in Bogotá, where we conducted separate ethnographic research between 2020 and 2021 among cyclists. We focus on the case of women cycling activists. Our study employs an accompaniment method that provides access to participants’ travel conditions and daily route choices. The collaborative ride is complemented by qualitative interviews conducted before and after the ride. The concept of ‘cuerpo-territorio’ is applied to our cases to show how relationships between the body and territory are constructed through cycling. We detail four major aspects of this relationship: cuerpo-territorio, familiarity, signs and signalling, and accompaniment. The article contributes to debates on cycling mobilities by highlighting the need to situate academic knowledge within the Global South from a perspective that views the body as an object of feminist reclaiming and cycling as an appropriation of lived space.