Table Of ContentSport, Physical Activity, and
Anti-Colonial Autoethnography
This book offers a brief history of how autoethnography has been employed in
studies of sport and physical (in)activity to date and makes an explicit call for
anti-colonial approaches – challenging scholars of physical culture to interrogate
and write against the colonial assumptions at work in so many physical cultural
and academic spaces.
It presents examples of autoethnographic work that interrogate physical cul-
tural practices as both produced by, and generative of, settler-colonial logics and
structures, including research into outdoor recreation, youth sport experiences,
and sport spectatorship. It situates this work in the context of key paradigmatic
issues in social scientific research, including ontology, epistemology, axiology,
ethics, and praxis, and looks ahead at the shape that social relations might take
beyond settler colonialism.
Drawing on cutting-edge research and presenting innovative theoretical per-
spectives, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in physical
cultural studies, sport studies, outdoor studies, sociology, cultural studies, or qual-
itative research methods in the social sciences.
Jason Laurendeau is Associate Professor with the Department of Sociology at
the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. His research interests include
settler colonialism, gender, risk, childhood, research methodology generally, and
autoethnography in particular.
Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity
Series Editors:
Michael D. Giardina
Florida State University, USA
Brett Smith
University of Birmingham, UK
From ethnography and narrative inquiry to participatory action research and
digital methods, feminist and poststructural theory to new materialism and on-
to-epistemologies, serious conversations about the practices, politics and philos-
ophies of qualitative inquiry have never been stronger or more abundant in the
field of sport, exercise and health. At the same time, the growth of new critical
methodologies has opened up interdisciplinary space for sustained engagement
with provocative questions over evidence, knowledge, and research practices.
The Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity series is the first of its kind
within the field that has as its mandate the necessary advancement of qualitative
methodologies and their intersection with theory and practice. Books in the se-
ries will develop new and innovative methodologies, serve as ‘how-to’ guides for
conducting research, and present empirical research findings. It will serve the
growing number of students and academics who promote and utilize qualitative
inquiry in university courses, research, and applied practice.
Also available in this series:
Digital Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity
Edited by Andrea Bundon
Creative Nonfiction in Sport and Exercise Research
Edited by Francesca Cavallerio
Motherhood and Sport
Collective Stories of Identity and Difference
Edited by Lucy Spowart and Kerry R. McGannon
Sport, Physical Activity, and Anti-Colonial Autoethnography
Stories and Ways of Being
Jason Laurendeau
www.routledge.com/sport/series/QRSPA
Sport, Physical Activity,
and Anti-Colonial
Autoethnography
Stories and Ways of Being
Jason Laurendeau
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Jason Laurendeau
The right of Jason Laurendeau to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Laurendeau, Jason, author.
Title: Sport, physical activity, and anti-colonial autoethnography : stories
and ways of being / Jason Laurendeau.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, N.Y. : Routledge, 2023. | Series:
Qualitative research in sport and physical activity | Includes bibliographical
references and index. | Summary: “This book offers a brief history of how
autoethnography has been employed in studies of sport and physical (in)
activity to date and makes an explicit call for anti-colonial approaches -
challenging scholars of physical culture to interrogate and write against the
colonial assumptions at work in so many physical cultural and academic spaces.
It presents examples of autoethnographic work that interrogate physical
cultural practices as both produced by, and generative of, settler colonial
logics and structures, including research into outdoor recreation, youth sport
experiences, and sport spectatorship. It situates this work in the context
of key paradigmatic issues in social scientific research, including ontology,
epistemology, axiology, ethics and praxis, and looks ahead at the shape that
social relations might take beyond settler-colonialism. Drawing on cutting-
edge research and presenting innovative theoretical perspectives, this book
is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in physical cultural studies,
sport studies, outdoor studies, sociology, cultural studies, or qualitative
research methods in the social sciences”— Provided by publisher. Identifiers:
LCCN 2022047106 | ISBN 9780367672348 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367672492
(paperback) | ISBN 9781003130451 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sports—Sociological aspects. | Physical education and
training—Sociological aspects. | Settler colonialism. | Ethnology—
Biographical methods.
Classification: LCC GV706.5 .L38 2023 | DDC 306.4/83—dc23/eng/20221213
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047106
ISBN: 978-0-367-67234-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-67249-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-13045-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003130451
Typeset in Goudy
by codeMantra
For Matthew, Quinn, Avery, and Levi
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Proem 2
1 Writing Sport and Physical Activity
Autoethnographically: “The Stories That Will Make a
Difference Aren’t the Easy Ones” 6
2 Situating the Author, Interrogating Canada:
(Un)sett(l)ing the Stage 26
3 Anti-Colonial Autoethnography 48
4 Outdoor Recreation, the Wilderness Ideal, and
Complicating Settler Mobility 65
5 Pedagogies of White Settler Masculinity: (Un)Becoming(?)
Settlers 86
6 O Canada? (Be)longing, (Un)certainty, and White Settler
Inheritance 104
7 (Autoethnographic) Futures: “Something as Yet Unimagined” 133
Index 147
Acknowledgements
Scholarship is too often thought of as a product of an individual – their mind,
their labour, their insight. But it is always relational work, whether it is acknowl-
edged as such or not. I would suggest that this is especially true in autoethnog-
raphy, criticisms of this method as solipsistic notwithstanding. In terms of the
work that appears in these pages, it simply could not have happened without the
insight, generosity, and encouragement of many people. While I take full respon-
sibility for any shortcomings in the work, any value therein is thanks in no small
part to valued readers and supporters.
Several folks read significant chunks of earlier drafts of the work and provided
invaluable feedback and encouragement. I asked an enormous amount of John-
Reid Hresko and he stepped up with “compassionate accountability” to highlight
when I was taking the too-easy path. Nik Dean moved from the role of former stu-
dent to that of trusted reader, helping me see what was working autoethnographi-
cally and where I needed to think more deeply. Tanner Layton read early drafts of
several chapters and put them in conversation with his own thinking and writing
in deeply generative ways. Jordan Koch and Mike Auksi read a full draft of the
manuscript when I desperately needed thoughtful and insightful readers to do
so. Nathan Fawaz read a full draft of the book with more generosity, insight, and
nuance that I could have asked or imagined, supporting me especially in the most
(intellectually and emotionally) difficult dimensions of the work.
Many generous readers provided focused feedback on particular sections of the
work, again pushing me to deepen my thinking and sharpen my writing. My sin-
cere gratitude to Chen Chen, Amanda DeLisio, Alex Giancarlo, Dallas Hunt,
Charli Kerns, Rob Kossuth, Kevin McGeough, Sam McKegney, Joshua Newman,
Waubgeshig Rice, Jamieson Ryan, Smokii Sumac, and Jennifer Wigglesworth for
their time, insight, and generosity. Thanks to Richard Van Camp for challenging
me to write with my heart, not (just) my head.
For numerous stimulating intellectual conversations foundational to this
work, my thanks to Suzanne Lenon, Michelle Helstein, Judy Davidson, Kristine
Alexander, Julie Young, Kara Granzow, Davina McLeod, Mary Louise Adams,
Ashley Pollock, and Chris Miller.
