Walking as Embodied Research: Drift, Pause, Indirection

In recent years, walking has emerged as a methodological tool and as a conceptually exciting point of departure across a range of disciplines and practices. This volume explores walking as a form of embodied research practice that offers fresh perspectives on key contemporary debates and areas of interest. These include the climate emergency and the debate around the Anthropocene, decolonial thinking and the struggle for social justice, feminist and queer walking methodologies, and the notion of the ’infraordinary’ and practices of everyday life. Contributions to this volume are by scholars, artists and practitioners drawn from a wide range of disciplines and fields, and from across the Global South and North. An overarching theme of the volume is the manner in which the act of walking brings the body into presence as a material part of the research process, and the forms of attentiveness that this encourages. Another theme is the intimate connection between the act of walking and the act of writing. As familiar landscapes change under the weight of Anthropogenic environmental change, walking becomes an act of witnessing and a spur to action. Rather than being a singular activity, walking itself is understood as a socially, economically and politically constructed and contested act. This volume will serve as a source of inspiration to readers from across the arts, humanities, and social sciences who are interested in walking methodologies and in new and sustainable research practices.

Christian Ernsten is Assistant Professor in Heritage Studies at Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

Nick Shepherd is Associate Professor of Sustainable Heritage Management at Aarhus University in Denmark and Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.