Social class and wilderness use

Abstract

Using social class and social inequality theories and concepts, we reexamine previous studies of recreation participation in designated wilderness. We suggest that members of the semiautonomous class—highly educated professional‐technical and craft employees who have limited control over what work they do but a great deal of control over how they do it (Wright, 1978)—appropriated wilderness and continue to dominate wilderness use. We propose an explanation of how and why this occurred.

Keywords:

• Meaning
• outdoor recreation
• semiautonomous class
• social class
• socioeconomic status
• territoriality
• wilderness