Paddling, property and piracy: the politics of canoeing in England and Wales
- ISSN: 17430437
- DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2011.546518
Abstract
This paper situates the politics of canoeing on inland rivers in England and Wales in the context of property rights and protest repertoires. We argue that the dominance of property rights has created an asymmetrical position that has underpinned riparian rights holders' claims to exclusive use of rivers while simultaneously delegitimizing the apparently equally valid claims of paddlers and others seeking access along rivers. Utilizing a netnographic approach we interrogate the adopted cultural positions of canoeists as 'roving bandit' and 'social pirate' through a study of online discussion. By adopting identities as 'bandit' and 'pirate', paddlers seek to unsettle the hegemony over property relations exercised by anglers to win concessions for use and enjoyment of rivers. Informed by Mancur Olson's theory of property settlement by outlaws, we argue that these identities do more to substantiate the claims of anglers to possession than further the cause of paddlers to securing greater access. In order to substantiate their claims, paddlers need to shift the point of their attack from that characterized by the roving and ephemeral bandit to that of the settled ruler, in the process establishing a claim over inland waters that is as strong as that already imposed by the anglers
Sign up today - FREE
Mendeley saves you time finding and organizing research. Learn more
- All your research in one place
- Add and import papers easily
- Access it anywhere, anytime