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Ghost Bikes -Religious Totems for our Age?

Jim Riley

19th June 2009

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This interesting article in the BBC Magazine caught my eye yesterday. A few years ago, I started to notice that roadside shrines -something unheard of in secular, modern Britain, were popping up. Now, we have these memorials to cyclists who have been killed in accidents. The focus here is partly or even mainly, road safety. What’s religious about it though you may think? Ah, well, check out Durkheim on this. Durkheim points out the key elements of a religion and of course, the symbolic elements and roles of totems to signify group membership. Isn’t that broadly similar to what’s going on here? And think too, about the functions of religion and the rituals of death.

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Jim Riley

Jim co-founded tutor2u alongside his twin brother Geoff! Jim is a well-known Business writer and presenter as well as being one of the UK's leading educational technology entrepreneurs.

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