Ways of Walking Ethnography and Practice on Foot

Despite its importance to how humans inhabit their environments, walking has rarely received the attention of ethnographers. Ways of Walking combines discussions of embodiment, place and materiality to address this significant and largely ignored 'technique of the body'. This book presents studies of walking in a range of regional and cultural contexts, exploring the diversity of walking behaviours and the variety of meanings these can embody. As an original collection of ethnographic work that is both coherent in design and imaginative in scope, this primarily anthropological book includes contributions from geographers, sociologists and specialists in education and architecture, offering insights into human movement, landscape and social life. With its interdisciplinary nature and truly international appeal, Ways of Walking will be of interest to scholars across a range of social sciences, as well as to policy makers on both local and national levels.

Contents: Preface; Introduction, Tim Ingold and Jo Lee Vergunst; Before a step too far: walking with Batek hunter-gatherers in the forests of Pahang, Malaysia, Lye Tuck-Po; Walking stories: leaving footprints, Allice Legat; The dilemmas of walking: a comparative view, Thomas Widlok; Feet following hooves, Pernille Gooch; Performing on the landscape versus doing landscape: perambulatory practice, sight and the sense of belonging, Kenneth R. Olwig; Listen to the sound of time: walking with saints in an Andalusian village, Katrín Lund; Taking a trip and taking care in everyday life, Jo Lee Vergunst; Walking through ruins, Tim Edensor; Walking out of the classroom: learning on the streets of Aberdeen, Elizabeth Curtis; Enchantment engineering and pedestrian empowerment: the Geneva case, Sonia Lavadinho and Yves Winkin; 'Taking a line for a walk': walking as an aesthetic practice, Raymond Lucas; A collectable topography: walking, remembering and recording mountains, Hayden Lorimer and Katrín Lund; Index.

Tim Ingold is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, UK and Jo Lee Vergunst is RCUK Academic Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, UK.