Walking practice and suburban nature-talk

Abstract

Drawing on recent conceptualisations of 'performativity' this article examines the experiential knowledge of a heterogenous group of people who regularly walk through a maze of criss-crossing paths in a relatively flat suburban Australian reserve. Attention is given to how routine walking can be conceptualised as one way of 'doing' nature. Routine walking is conceptualised as a territory-making process. Mindful of the social context and bodily experience, walking offers insights into the possibilities of making points of connection with the performances of plants and animals. While experiential knowledge from habitual walking illustrates the blurring of culture-nature dichotomies, walkers st..