Joseph Whitson: The colonial marketing of outdoor recreation
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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