PhD Research

'...life is given in engagement, not in disengagement, and in that very engagement the real world ceases to be 'nature' and is revealed to us as an environment of people. Environments are constituted in life, not just in thought, and it is only because we live in an environment that we can think at all.' (Ingold, 2000)

Focus: Environmental Identity
[Environment and Sociology]

Methodology
Qualitative case study in the interpretive narrative tradition

Case Study Community
Hout Bay (South Africa) is a melting pot comprising three predominant communities. These communities whilst different in culture, history, education, literacy and economic standing had and continue to have an intimate interwoven existence. Hout Bay offers a rich context in which to locate environmental identity research. Furthermore it is a 'village island' apart from other settlements, surrounded by the tremendous beauty of a National Park - showcasing unique flora such as the fynbos floral kingdom and at its feet the Atlantic ocean with its Kelp forests, Cape Fur Seals, Marine Bird life, crayfish, dolphins, Southern Right and Hump Back whales and other diverse marine organisms.This location and community emphasises the contrast between everyday life and concepts of nature and environment.

University
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