Joseph Whitson: The colonial marketing of outdoor recreation

Joseph Whitson: The colonial marketing of outdoor recreation

From Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration by Kaméa Chayne

May 19, 2026 · 43 min · Episode 475

About this episode

The episode explores the colonial marketing of outdoor recreation and the implications of the outdoor industry's relationship with wilderness and public lands.

How does the outdoor industry profit off of “the wilderness” as an extractive, consumable experience? How have outdoor apparel companies benefited from sanitizing the history of national parks and public lands? And what does it mean to recognize the colonial mentality behind certain forms of exploration — bagging peaks, checking off trails, and securing photographs of scenic spots without going any deeper? In this episode, Green Dreamer’s Kaméa Chayne speaks with Joseph Whitson, a political ecologist and the author of Marketing the Wilderness . Join us as we peel back the layers of the recreation-industrial complex — politicizing the idea of “protecting the wilderness” often portrayed as a bipartisan interest — and sit with what it means to travel, hike, and recreate in the “great outdoors” while confronting questions of complicity. Episode musical feature: “Eden” by Ryne Meadow

People in this episode

Host: Kaméa Chayne

Guest: Joseph Whitson

Topics covered

  • colonialism
  • outdoor recreation
  • political ecology
  • wilderness
  • extractivism
  • recreation-industrial complex

Keywords

  • colonial mentality
  • outdoor industry
  • national parks
  • political ecology
  • recreation-industrial complex
  • extractive experience
  • hiking
  • exploration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: outdoor industry, outdoor apparel companies

Books & works: Marketing the Wilderness, Eden

Places: national parks, public lands

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