Diversity Outdoors: Embodied ethnoracial inequalities and outdoor recreation in Europe

This project analyzes how ethnoracial inequalities manifest in outdoor recreation across Europe through comparative ethnographic studies in the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK.

Subsidie
€ 1.500.000
2025

Projectdetails

Introduction

This project seeks to investigate how social inequalities are embodied through a comparative analysis of participation in outdoor recreation in Europe. Outdoor recreation – such as hiking, climbing, swimming, but also birdwatching and camping – is a pivotal arena where racialized encounters and practices manifest.

Background

Given the current international attention to diversity and (lack of) anti-racism in Europe on the one hand, and the understudied emerging grassroots outdoor movements that challenge these discourses on the other, it is essential that we better understand the embodiment of ethnoracial inequality and its intersections with religion, gender, class, and ability.

Research Questions

This project undertakes a comparative ethnographic study of ethnoracial embodiment in outdoor recreation in Western Europe, while asking the following questions:

  1. What are the effects of ethnoracial embodiment on sociocultural diversity in outdoor recreation?
  2. How are bodies constituted as in or out of place in outdoor recreation in Europe?
  3. How is diversity in outdoor recreation influenced by local, national, and transnational discourses and imaginations?
  4. What is the role of ethnoracial affinity and opposition in experiences of participating in, and contesting the status quo of outdoor recreation?

Objectives

The central objective is to gain insight into the commonalities and socio-cultural distinctiveness of how ethnoracial inequalities are embodied, experienced, and contested across Europe.

Methodology

It does so by analyzing the embodied, sensorial dimensions of racialization (and its intersections) in outdoor recreation and developing a theorization on ethnoracial embodiment. The concept of sensory ecology helps innovatively analyze:

  • Identity-based outdoor groups and activities
  • Outdoor recreation policies and discourses
  • Relationships between local movements, national-level organizations, and online communities

Comparative Analysis

The project compares three countries with emerging identity-based outdoor groups: the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Financiële details & Tijdlijn

Financiële details

Subsidiebedrag€ 1.500.000
Totale projectbegroting€ 1.500.000

Tijdlijn

Startdatum1-1-2025
Einddatum31-12-2029
Subsidiejaar2025

Partners & Locaties

Projectpartners

  • UNIVERSITEIT LEIDENpenvoerder

Land(en)

Netherlands

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